Anomaly
by AnathemaProxy
Summary: Sam likes things that are...different. Danny just so happens to be one of those things. A/U
1. Hello Casper High

Don't own Danny Phantom.

A/N: This story will take me slightly longer...or a lot longer to update, changed circumstances and whatnot. Anyway enjoy.

Anomaly

Chapter 1 

As the young girl surveyed her surroundings, she couldn't help but think that High school was little more than a social experiment. It was the only place she had ever see humans so divided. The teen let out a long sigh as her eyes moved from table to table throughout the lunch room, noting how cliquish everyone was, including herself.

There was a table for every denomination of student. There was the popular kids, table practically filled to bursting with Jocks and cheerleaders. The band geeks, who seemed eternally stuck in there ridiculous uniforms. The nerds, there wasn't one among them who didn't wear glasses or have a pocket protector. Other groups worth of note included the punks, skaters, stoners, bookworms, and of course the girls own table, the Goths.

There was however one table that continued to confound her. Only two people sat at this particular table. One was someone she knew from her first year of high school, Tucker Foley. the other she had never been formally introduced to. She believed his name to be Donny....or was it Denny... the young goth wasn't sure which. The two of them were practically the only people in the school who didn't really fit in with any other group.

Tucker could be best defined as a carnivorous techno geek. The young girl had first encountered him during a dispute over the schools lunch menu. She had just convinced the staff to employ the ultra reclyo vegetarian meal plan, when the beret wearing carnivore had come out of nowhere with a petition to bring back the original menu, he hadn't even tried her food before declaring it garbage. She didn't hate him for it though, she wasn't too keen on the fact that all the boy ate was meat, but he heated debate with him was one of her more fond memories of her freshmen year.

The other boy at the table could only be described with two words, Painfully normal. The young goth had discovered that there was almost nothing outstanding about the boy. Though she had only seen him around a few times, mostly with his best friend, the only thing that stood out in her mind was his eyes. He had the most remarkably sky blue eyes she had ever seen. Not that she had been looking all that closely. There was one other thing that bugged her about him sometimes. She had noticed that every so often before something terrible happened, he would know.

Now the something terrible that the goth was thinking of wasn't what you would typically think of. There town had a particularly bad reputation... for being the most haunted town in the world. At the beginning of her first year of high school was the very first time she had seen a ghost in the flesh... well maybe not flesh. Over the course of the last eighteen months she had seen hundreds more, and they weren't the friendly kind she had always imagined. At the best of times they were malevolent and despicable. At the worst...well she didn't want to think about that. That Donny kid though... he seemed to be able to tell when the specters were going to show up. She often wondered why no one else seemed to notice this about him.

She eyed there table slowly. They were an anomaly...and she liked anomalies. Anything that was different was interesting to her. The young goth had often contemplated going over and trying to get to know the two of them. Sure she was part of the goth group but she often felt a little out of place at the dark depressing table. Sure she liked morbid poetry as much as the next girl but sometimes she wished for something a little more upbeat.

the young girl was about to look away from their table when a pair of sky blue eyes met her violet ones, and for a moment neither could look away. The goth tried to tear her eyes away but found it nearly impossible. As she began pooling her willpower, a breath escaped the boy. She could tell this because for whatever reason, she could see it. Despite the heat inside the cafeteria, she had seen his breath as if it was the middle of winter. The painfully normal boy jerked his head and averted his eyes, as he whispered something to the boy sitting next to him.

The goth kept an eye on them, as the two boys suddenly sat up and left the lunch room, leaving there trays behind. To her this meant one thing, something bad was about to happen. She began to hastily finish the lunch in front of her. Any minuet now a ghost was going to show up and she would never get a chance to Finnish.

As the young girl stuffed the last of her meal into her mouth something struck a chord... a power chord if you would believe it. closely followed by a pillar of blue fire that erupted from the center of lunchroom. As the fire cleared a lone figure could be seen standing stoically. It was the spirit of a young woman. She was a fairly common ghost around the town. Her name was Ember, the goth couldn't help but "Remember", and the apparition was exactly what she looked like. A rocker.

"HELLO CASPER HIGH!!!" The pale blue ghost yelled as she waved to the students, Most of whom had stopped mid chew when the spout of flames had begun. "ARE YOU READY TO ROCK!!!" she bellowed as she let loose another power chord. However instead of regular response this illicited which were cheers for the rocker to continue, she was met with a resounding cry of terror as every student in the room began to scramble for the exits.

Well all but one. The young goth was actually more interested in ghosts than afraid of them. And today she decided that running was out of the question...hiding however was decidedly a word in the question. As the rest of the students fled to the hallways the young girl darted behind the lunch counter before anyone would notice. It gave her a good view of the ghost while masking her presence.

As the lunchroom doors closed the spirit looked around the room unimpressed, as she slung her guitar over her shoulder.

"Tough crowd." Ember said dryly as she took a seat on the nearest table. "alright...come on out dipstick. I know your there." the ghost said crossing her arms.

The young goth panicked, how had she been found so easily. Granted she was dealing with a supernatural being. But she was sure she hadn't so much as breathed hard since taking up her hiding place. The young girls mind raced as she considered her options. She could make a break for the door, however since her adversary could fly that didn't seem like such a good idea. She could walk out slowly and beg for mercy...again it wasn't the greatest of plans. However she was saved from making any decision at all as the lunchroom doors suddenly opened, and someone entered. The young girl couldn't see who from her position, but she wasn't about to try and find out. From the look on Ember's face, this was the person she had been addressing.

"Ember...could you make your entrances a little less...flashy, and a little more after lunch. I didn't even get a chance to finish." complained an oddly familiar voice. "or maybe shown up during Lancer's class." the voice continued.

"Sorry Baby pop, you know I have to make a grand entrance, its just my style." the ghost said conversationally, as the unknown person stepped into the young girls vision. It was Tucker's friend, Mr. Painfully normal. She suddenly, really wanted to know what his name was so she sent her mind out to retrieve it something Fenton... Donny....Danny, that was it. Danny Fenton.

The young girls mind reeled at what she was seeing. One of the most normal people she knew, sort of, was having a normal conversation with a ghost. He was usually the first person to run from these kinds of situations. Whats more was that the ghost wasn't attacking or threatening him in any way, in fact it looked like she just came to have a chat with him.

" in any case, what did you want to talk about Ember. It better be important if you interrupted my lunch." Danny said with mock anger. "your not just trying to avoid your boyfriend are you." he said chuckling to himself a little.

"Ha. Very funny Dipstick." Ember said as she hopped off the table and landed next to the boy "No I just came give you a little forewarning." The ghost said wrapping one arm around his shoulders. " Johny and Kitty are going to hang around town for a bit this week, I'm putting on a concert later tonight at the park, and Youngblood is Haunting the playground outside the kindergarten...again." the apparition said it almost like she was giving a status report to her superior officer. " also skulker wanted me to let you know that the next time he sees you, your pelt will adorn his fireplace... or something like that." she said as Danny turned to face her.

"I'll deal with Youngblood later, but I told you I don't care what you guys do so long as you don't cause any trouble. If you guys play nice, ill play nice." he said pointing back and forth between himself and the female ghost.

Sam's mind couldn't seem to understand the situation. It was as if someone had thrown a monkey wrench into her brains gears, causing it to stop suddenly. Danny Fenton, possibly the biggest chicken out of anyone in the school was talking to this ghost like he was in charge.... and the crazy thing was that the ghost seemed to think the same thing.

"I didn't just come to check in with you, I also wanted to invite you and your four eyed friend to the concert." The blue haired ghost said as she produced two tickets from nowhere, and handed them to the young boy.

"I didn't know you cared." Danny said with thick sarcasm, as he took the tickets from her hand. The ghost dislodged herself from the boy and started to head for the nearest wall.

" I don't.. I just want someone there who can take care of that annoying hunter girl if she shows up." Ember stopping inches from the wall as she turned to look back at him. "anyway I have to go get ready, ill see ya later Dipstick" as the ghost finished her sentence she suddenly disappeared from sight.

"i really wish she'd stop calling me that." Danny said this as though he had said it a thousand times. The young boy then shrugged and grabbed an untouched roll off of a nearby lunch tray. " waste not want not." he said to himself as he made his way out of the lunchroom.

The young goth girl was unsure of what had just transpired. It was so mindbogglingly strange that it defied all logic, and as such it merited further investigation. She was going to have to keep an eye on the blue eyed boy from now on. Even if she had to spy on him for the rest of there time in high school she was going to figure out what was going on.

"_Samantha Manson, secret agent._" she thought wryly to herself. "_yeah right_."


	2. Too Familiar

I DONT own DANNY phantom, or something to sTop my caps lock kEy from malFunctioning

Anomaly

Chapter 2

Sam had been following her prey for two days now. During that time she had learned three things, One Danny Fenton was one of the most slippery men on the planet...and that was saying something, two he was almost too nice, and three every ghost within the city limits was attracted to his location regardless of whether he wanted them to be or not.

The young Goth learned the first piece of information on the day she officially started following him. No matter how closely she followed, he always got away from her. As she was following him home he would turn a corner and vanish. Only to appear minutes later further up the street. It was infuriating, and it made no sense. It was like he could turn invisible or something.

The second thing she had learned came on day two of Fenton watch. The young girl noticed that he would let anything slide...well next to anything. Dash Baxter one of the schools biggest bullies would torment him nearly constantly. Not only did Danny not defend himself he didn't even really complain. She saw him stuffed into a locker more than once that day. Almost every time he was assaulted it was because he was distracting the bully from someone else. The young girl was tempted to jump in on more than one occasion; she couldn't stand to see that kind of behavior, at least Tucker was around to help his friend out of the locker every single time.

Her third observation also came on her second day following him. As he was on his home the young Goth noticed there were an alarming number of ghosts that would appear out of nowhere and fly up to him. The people in the area didn't notice because before the ghosts so much as appeared they would run away screaming. Sam however had opted to watch the encounters from start to finish, from a safe distance of course. It also seemed that each and every one of the spirits was only popping in to say hello, save for one. A hulking mechanical man... Skulker if the Goth was correct. She assumed this when the Ghost announced that Danny's hide would be his, which prompted the blue eyed boy to dash away into a nearby ally.

Sam scrambled from her hiding place, to try and help him. Danny's techno geek friend had long since departed for his own home and everyone else had run when the ghost had appeared. The young girl felt inclined to help despite the fact that she had no idea how she would do so. However when she approached the ally she noticed a distinct lack of....well, anything really.

The Goth sat completely confused; there was no way that they had disappeared that quickly. As Sam began to panic, she heard noises coming from street on the other side of the ally. Without thinking she ran through the ally way and stopped as she approached the source of the noise.

There dueling it out in the middle of the street was none other than Skulker and the towns very own super hero Danny Phantom. The ghostly teenage hero had shown up with the arrival of every other ghost in town. However instead of attacking people like the rest of them, he had defended anyone in need of defending. At first it had seemed like he was the instigator of every incident, though after a year of saving people he had garnered a reputation as a hero. Now his signature white hair, green eyes and black hazmat jumpsuit had become a symbol of hope.

As the young Goth beheld the battle, she was amazed at how... mundane it seemed to her. Every one of their moves seemed so practiced, like they had done it so many times that now it was just routine. As the two continued their fight Sam began looking for Danny, Fenton not Phantom, However the young boy was nowhere in sight. Worry gripped the young girl, she knew he could have run home, but she had figured he still would have been on this street. There was almost no time for him to have run anywhere.

As she was lost in thought something suddenly flew past her into the ally followed by a metallic thudding noise as whatever went past her hit a dumpster.

"You should really quit while you're ahead." Phantom said, laughing slightly. When Sam turned around the only thing left of Skulker's body was his head, sticking sideways out from the dumpster. As the young girl was about to say something, a small green creature crawled out from inside the metallic head.

"You haven't heard the last of me, next time I will destroy you." it yelled at the other ghost in a high pitched voice, as it tried to escape. "Do you hear me." it continued as it shook its fist. However before it made it halfway down the alley it was suddenly hit by a blinding blue beam. Sam followed the light back to its source. Floating at the entrance to the ally was Phantom holding what looked like a....Thermos. Before her mind had time to try and puzzle out why on earth such a thing would shoot a beam, the smaller of the two ghosts was suddenly sucked up inside of it.

"Yeah yeah, I heard you." The Ghostly hero said as he placed the lid on his thermos. As he did so he noticed the Goth standing not far off. He looked like he wanted to say something, like he was nervous. After a moment of the ghosts' attention staring Sam began to feel slightly uncomfortable, he might be dead but he was kind of cute. She coughed slightly to get his attention, as he gave a start. "Um... sorry about that. Are you alright?" he said as he continued to stare at her.

"I'm fine...." The young Goth said, her voice trailing. Something was off. But she couldn't put her finger on it. He looked familiar...too familiar. It wasn't the fact that she had seen him a million times before, on the news or around town saving people. It was something else. As Sam was about to say something to him he started to fly off.

"That's good. See ya round." The ghost said suddenly as he booked it down the street, and turned into an ally farther ahead. Still feeling suspicious Sam darted back into the ally way and out the other side. As she approached the exit she slowed and stuck her head out just enough to see down the street to the ally where Phantom should have exited.

Her heart stopped when instead of the Ghostly teen it was Danny Fenton who emerged, still stuffing a thermos into his backpack. It made no sense....at all...even a little bit. Dead people were not alive, right? Since she had been focusing all of her attention on the boy for the past two days it was no wonder that Danny Phantom had looked oddly familiar, and the names were so alike it was laughable. The interactions between Danny and the ghosts now made so much sense. He had cleaned the floor with them so many times that they had come to some kind of tenuous agreement, well most of them had anyway. The real question was "How on god's green earth was this possible."

Before her pondering let him get away she began to follow him once more, keeping a greater distance this time. She wasn't sure what she was dealing with now. Moments ago she had been tailing what she had thought to be a normal...no, painfully normal boy, and now...well she didn't know what now. However the rest of his trip home was completely uneventful, And Sam made sure to observe every moment of it. As she saw him retreat inside of his house the young girl wondered what she would do with the information she had acquired. No one would believe her if she tried to tell them, and she couldn't tell him that she knew... they didn't even know one another. As the Goth turned to walk back to her house she ran face first into someone.

"Are you stalking my brother?" Sam backed up to find she had run straight into Jasmine Fenton, Danny's sister and smartest girl in their school. The older girls brushed some of her red hair out of her face as she eyed the younger teen. Sam began to panic; she had no excuse for what she was doing. Under the glare of the older girl she could only answer honestly, and hope she misunderstood.

"....Sort of....but not in a creepy way." The Goth said hoping the older girl would by it.

"Wow...A girl likes Danny." Jazz said as she considered the younger girl. "According to my calculations, the odds of that happening are infinitesimal." she said placing a hand on her chin as she thought for a moment. After a few seconds a look of suspicion fell on Jazz's features "alright what are you up to." the older girl demanded.

"I..." Sam put her mind in overdrive; she had to come up with something, anything that would make sense. "Was worried about him....yeah that's It." she said suddenly. "I saw a ghost following him on his way home and decided to keep an eye on him.....so if the ghost attacked I could help..." The young Goth said hoping that was satisfactory. Jazz's eyes went wide for a moment.

"Danny was being followed by a ghost, and he didn't notice." she said sounding astonished. She then made a slight gasp "I mean... it's a good thing you were there then, Danny is terrified of ghosts." the older girl said as she slowly sidled around Sam and started backing away toward her house. "Well thanks for looking after my brother for me... got to go." Jazz said with a forced smile as she left the Goths Company.

As the older teen made her way inside of her house, Sam's eyes narrowed. Jazz knew her brothers secret. The younger girl wondered how Danny's secret had stayed a secret so long. She supposed it would be the mental block people would have involving the fact that the main difference between the two boys was that one was dead, and the other alive. No person in their right mind could possibly believe that the two were one and the same. This also made Sam consider her mental state. The fact that she was entertaining this idea was ludicrous. However signs indicated that this was the truth.

When Jazz had only been concerned with the fact that Danny hadn't noticed the ghost, and not the fact that it had been following him, she had practically given it away. The older girls' hasty change in attitude when she had realized her blunder only solidified Sam's belief. What did Jazz take her for an idiot?

Despite the fact that the whole thing was crazy, unbelievable, incomprehensible, and completely insane, it was also interesting. This meant that it was right up Sam's ally, and the young girl decided that it was time she got to know her classmate a little better.


	3. taste of Meat

I don't own Danny Phantom.

Anomaly 

Chapter 3

Sam waited in the lunch line patiently, though her mind was on anything but her lunch. At that very moment her attention was focused on the two boys sitting at the table third from the left, near the middle of the room. It had been two days since she had made her discovery, or what she thought was a discovery. All in all, it still made absolutely no sense, and she had no concrete evidence with which to back it up. Today however she was going to make an attempt at getting closer to her subject.

As the young girl absently took her tray from the lunch lady she corrected herself. If she was going to get closer to Danny she would have to start thinking of him more as a person and less as a research subject. As the Goth adjusted her thought pattern she began to slowly make her way over to their table. After making it about halfway Sam started to slow down further, she began to wonder if she would stick out to much.

Not only were the two boys the only people who ever sat at that particular table but she was a Goth. Everything from her jet black hair to her combat boots would stand out if she so much as sneezed near that table. As the young girls mind raced to come up with an idea she had already made it to the table in question. As Danny and his Friend looked up at her she quickly sat down at the end of the table, as far away from them as she could.

Sam could only stare at her food and hope that they wouldn't get too freaked out. After a moment of staring at her the two boys continued whatever conversation they had been previously having though at a severely reduced volume. The young Goth began to wonder exactly it was she was hoping to accomplish, without actually talking to them, as she continued to stare absently at her lunch.

"So how did it go?" Tucker whispered to Danny, who looked reluctant to talk, as he shifted uncomfortably at Sam's presence.

"Fine... the uh..."you know what" were more than happy to agree, Well most of them anyway." Sam put all of her focus into her hearing. They were obviously talking about something to do with ghosts.

"All we have to do now is have a formal meeting." Danny said his eyes constantly shifting to Sam. Then in a much more hushed voice he leaned toward his friend. "Tuck.....me....she...." The young girl could barely make anything out, so she started to lean a little closer, until she realized that the two of them were staring at her. To cover her actions she immediately picked up her fork and speared something on her tray.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea, I mean they could kill...I mean...they could...you know....if you meet with all of them at once." Tucker said turning back toward Danny. Sam began playing with her food to avoid suspicion as the blue eyed boy answered his friend.

"It's not a problem, besides I have friends amongst them...sort of. Besides they didn't say anything like come alone or don't bring any...." he stopped suddenly when he realized Sam had stopped moving again. For her part the Goth Immediately stuck whatever was on her fork in her mouth, to assuage their suspicions.

"Anyway, every things going to..." However Danny never got any further than that, as Sam started to choke on her food. What she hadn't noticed the whole while she had been focusing on them, was that the tray she had been handed had large pieces of meat on it. In a misguided attempt to fool them she had inadvertently stuck one directly into her mouth.

Being a vegetarian her immediate instinct was to spit it back out however the shock of actually tasting meat made her gasp which lodged the chunk firmly in her throat.

Sam sat bolt upright and fell into the isles in between the lunch tables, trying to comprehend her situation. As she looked around in front of her, the young girl noticed a lack of help coming. Everyone was gawking at her as she tried to inhale. Her surprise turned to fury as she looked around at the people who starred as though she was putting on some kind of show. However before she could figure out who to curse, her vision began to swim.

As the young Goth was about to lose consciousness she felt someone standing her upright, as an icy chill pierced her back. The sensation was so astonishing that she was completely brought back to her senses. The cold feeling began to move upward toward her throat, as it was about to reach the source of her predicament she spun around to see what was happening.

Sam's thoughts ceased to function as she observed what was happening to her. Danny was standing less than a foot away, so close that their faces were almost touching. As she looked into his blue eyes, she noticed that the chill had moved round to her front. The girl looked down to see something, the last thing she had expected. His hand was sticking through her chest and up into her neck. Without reacting outwardly she looked back up into his eyes. The last thing that went through her mind was how much she liked there color.

* * *

The first thing Sam noticed when she regained consciousness was that there was no longer a piece of meat stuck in her throat. The second was that she wasn't alone. There were voices in the room with her. She tried not to react as she began listening to them.

"I just wanted to thank you for your quick thinking Gentlemen." that was the school nurse, so The Goth found it safe to assume she was now resting in the nurses office.

"Yes, if you hadn't jumped in there's no telling what could have happened." The voice belonged to the Principal Mrs. Ishiyama. "It's good to know that we have such fine outstanding students at our school." the administrator said with pride.

"It was no problem; we couldn't leave her like that, after all." Tucker said hamming it up.

"Well could you watch over Ms. Manson while we contact her parents?" The nurse said as she heard, what Sam assumed, was the two adults leaving the room. The door closed and Tucker spoke up once more.

"Whew... that was close. Next time you should use the Heimlich maneuver, but since no one saw you I guess it's alright." The techno geek said sitting in a chair nearby.

"I wouldn't say no one." Danny said apprehensively. Sam could just imagine him pointing at her as he said that. "I am so dead...well you know what I mean." he sounded more upset then when he was fighting that ghost the other day, or what she assumed was him. "Though all that matters is that she's okay..." the blue eyed teen said. This made something stir in the Goth, however as an unidentified emotion she immediately chose to suppress and ignore it as is Goth tradition. She figured she should try and alleviate some of their worry, so she began to shift in the bed as she pretended to wake up.

"What happened?" Sam said with great emphasis, so that Danny would calm down. However when her eyes opened to look at where she had heard the boys voice, she was surprised to find him looking...Nervous, despite her claim that she didn't know what was had happened. "I feel like I was hit by a bus." she said rolling over to face the other two teens.

"You passed out after choking on a piece of meat." Tucker said when Danny continued to look at Sam like he was a deer in the headlights. "Danny saved you." he said pointing to his friend. Sam looked at Danny expectantly however he continued to appear apprehensive.

"I...Uh....Are you...Alright." he said as his voice cracked a little. That was the final nail in the coffin of his secret, that and the fact that he had passed his hand through her body, though that could have been a hallucination from lack of oxygen. It was the exact same way Phantom had spoken to her two days before, minus the voice cracking. It was definitely him.

"Don't worry about him." Tucker said coming to his friends' defense. "He just gets nervous around Pretty girls." The beret wearing boy said as he nudged his friend a little, as Danny stammered and blushed furiously.

"Hey...y...I...she..." Sam wasn't sure how to react. Since she had taken on the mantle of Goth in the fifth grade most of the boys in school thought she was...creepy and to be avoided. The young girl had long since given up on thinking that boys would take her seriously. Danny seemed to collect himself for a moment, a long moment. "You know if you wanted to break the ice you could have said something instead of choking on your lunch." he said his voice still anxious, as he held out his hand to her. "Names Danny, and I think you know Tucker." his face reddened slightly as she shook his hand.

"Sam Manson, thanks for the save." The Goth said as she pulled her hand back. "And the compliment." she said smirking at the two of them. Danny did his best to avert his eyes, as he stood up from his chair.

"In any case, next time you want to sit with us, just pull up a chair." Tucker said as he copied his friend. "Were always saying we need to expand our circle of friends....well friend." the teen said as he gestured to his friend.

"Will do. I guess I'll see you guys later. I'm gonna rest a while longer...until I can get the taste of meat out of my mouth." she said lying back on the tiny cot. "Thanks again." she said before pulling the covers back over her.

"See ya." the boys said in unison. As the two approached the exit Sam saw Danny turn around and give her a goofy looking smile as he closed the door. It once more brought that unidentifiable emotion to the surface. So once again she quashed it, as she thought to herself that she had managed to get closer to the two relatively easily... though unexpectedly at great risk to her own life.

"Mission accomplished." she affirmed to herself.


	4. Not So Fast Food

I Don't Own Danny Phantom, and i would like to thank Pterodactyl for doing Beta.

Anomaly

Chapter 4

"So what's it like being a Goth." Tucker said as he picked up his mighty meaty sandwich, which he stuffed unceremoniously into his mouth.

"I don't know what's it like being a ridiculous Techno Geek." Sam said as she nibbled on something from her mini veggie platter. "Do you even know what's in that thing?" The Goth questioned**,** gesturing to his dripping sandwich.

"No…I don't. And that's just the way I like it." The Geek said as he continued to tear large chunks out of said sandwich. "How can you not like meat? It's almost a necessity. Where else are you going to get all the protein you need." He said as he motioned toward her platter with his free hand. "That's just an appetizer."

"I know, that's what it says on the menu." The young teen said as she pointed to the sign over the front counter. "And you can get plenty of protein from Soy beans." She said as she continued to pick at her food. "You would know that if you could stop stuffing your face for one second." She said raising her voice slightly.

"Alright you guys, that's enough. We don't need a repeat of last year." Danny said as he ate his French fries, the other two teens turning their animosity toward him. "Hey don't look at me like that… I'm Switzerland, note the French fries." He said pointing to his food.

After Sam's parents had been contacted she had spent the rest of the school day in the infirmary. As she had left the school she found Danny and Tucker waiting for her. They had offered to buy her something to eat seeing as she had never had a chance during lunch. She had happily accepted after calling and confirming her plans with her parents, she didn't want to worry them. So now the three of them sat inside the local fast food joint, The Nasty Burger.

"So what do you guys do for fun?" Sam said, her ire giving way to curiosity. "I never see you guys hanging around with anyone else." The girl turned to Danny, awaiting her answer.

"We have… other responsibilities that occupy our time." The blue eyed boy said with practiced ease. "It's like a part time job without the pay." He continued.

"And other than that all we do is loaf around and watch movies, maybe play some video games every once and a while." Tucker added to avert the young girl's attention. Since Sam Knew the nature of the "job" they spoke of, she didn't press the issue. After all she wanted to get to know them not drive them away. She had expected that Tucker knew about Danny's secret. She didn't know, however that he was also helping the other teen in his endeavors.

"What kinds of movies do you guys like?" The young girl said trying to help steer the conversation the way Tucker was taking it. "I mostly do Horror…if you couldn't guess. Though I'm pretty open to most movie types, except slapstick comedy." She said eyeing her carrot stick like it was the genre in question. When she got no reply from the two boys she looked up from her food to find that both looked as if they had been struck physically. "What?"

"That's the best kind of movie… you don't even have to watch the whole thing to enjoy it." Tucker said, remembering all the times that their extracurricular activities had robbed them of the end of a movie. "Well maybe not the best…but still, they're not that bad." He said, putting up a weak defense.

"We mostly do comedy, but horror's not out of the question. Though living in this town a walk down the street can be more terrifying than any movie." Danny said wryly, as he popped the last of his fries into his mouth. He then turned to say something to Tucker when he suddenly shivered and let out an icy breath. The two boys shared a meaningful look. For her part Sam understood that in this situation she would be the third wheel, so she faked a call from her parents.

"I have to get this. I'll take it outside, it'll just take a sec" The young girl said pulling out her cell phone as she started for the door. The very moment she made it outside she could hear screams coming from within the eatery. Sam immediately dove over and positioned herself under the window in front of where Danny and Tucker were sitting. However as throngs of people began to pour from the inside, something strange happened. They all suddenly stopped moving.

The young girl stared open mouth at the sight before her. It was as if they had been frozen in time. She wondered what could cause such a thing as she turned around to peek through the window into the restaurant. Everyone was frozen mid panic. Some trying to get out of there booths, while others held their loved ones tight. The things that caught her attention the most were the things still moving. Facing away from the window Danny and Tucker were the only people to remain unfrozen. There was one other things inside that remained unfrozen; however it was not a person…not any more at least.

Floating in front of the booth was one very imposing Ghost. He wasn't big, but his presence was. He also seemed to have a theme going for himself. Inside of his chest was the pendulum of a grandfather clock, and both of his arms were lined with watches. Even the staff he held had a clock on it. All this combined with the frozen people led Sam to the conclusion that this…being was somehow in control of time.

"Hey Clockwork." Both boys said as they waved at the hooded ghost. "You could have frozen them before you appeared." Danny said eyeing the ghost askance. "Was it really necessary to do that?" He questioned.

"Oh, I have my reasons." The ghost said as he looked straight at Sam through the window, before turning his attention to Danny. Sam couldn't even move when his gaze had been upon her. What's more it seemed that he wanted her to hear what he was going to say, seeing as he left her unfrozen. "I just came to tell you that the meeting you requested has been approved. It will be held tonight at midnight, in Amity Park Cemetery." The Ghost said flatly.

"Aw man why do you guys always have to go that extra mile to make me feel way uncomfortable?" Danny said reclining in his chair slightly. "We couldn't just have the meeting somewhere normal could we." He said letting his head fall backward.

"Its tradition…well sort of. We usually hold it in the ghost zone but we're holding it in the human world since it pertains to you." As the ghost spoke it suddenly shifted from what looked like a middle aged man… to a very elderly looking man. "Don't worry no one will get out of line, I'll make sure of that." The now elderly ghost said in an assuring manner.

"Well at least they agreed to the meeting in the first place." Tucker said sounding relieved. "I was beginning to think that I might not get to see the outcome of all this." Sam raised an eyebrow at the Techno geek, though the gesture went unnoticed. As she pondered the meaning of his words Clockwork offered her an explanation.

"Ah, that's right. I had almost forgotten about your imminent departure." Clockwork said almost apologetically. "Well, let me be the first to bid you farewell. This may be the last time I get to speak to the two of you together, without unwanted interruptions." The ghost continued in the same fashion.

"Dude, I'm moving like three hours away…not dying…I'm not dying right." Tucker said sounding worried as he questioned the Imposing ghost, who started laughing softly. It was strange to Sam that it sounded warm and comforting.

"No, you're not going to die any time soon. I'm just concerned for Danny. You're his biggest source of support, besides his sister." Clockwork said placing his hand on Tucker's shoulder. "I know it may not seem like much sometimes but your help is essential." The ghost said smiling down at the teen.

"I know, but my dad got a new job." The bespectacled boy almost sounded like he was trying to defend himself. "But remember you need any info, or something hacked into, don't hesitate to call." He said looking at Danny. This was news to the young Goth girl. Usually news of someone moving spread like wildfire, but she had heard nothing about Tucker leaving.

"Well you don't leave until this weekend anyway, let's wait until then to talk about how lonely I'll be alright." Danny said with sarcasm.

"Oh you won't be alone." Tucker said getting a mischievous look in his eyes. "Seems to me like you and Sam might hit it off." Tucker said making a nudging gesture at Danny, since he wasn't close enough to actually nudge him. Sam ducked slightly at the mention of her name; she wasn't sure how she felt about that statement. The jury was still out on whether or not the two of them would get along. However, despite the passive look on the girls face there was an almost unperceivable amount of color in her cheeks.

"Tucker!" Danny started to yell, but before he could get anything out Clockwork spoke up.

"Ah, the lovely Ms. Manson" The Ghost said once more glancing at the girl outside the window. "I do believe you can trust her." As the words exited his mouth the spirit suddenly shifted into the form of an infant.

"You know Sam**?**" Both boys said incredulously, as Clockwork gave them a wry smile.

"I know everything." The ghost said disappearing with a wave of his staff, leaving the two boys to wonder.

"You know, I think he gets a kick out of doing that…leaving all mysterious like, with tons of unanswered questions." Tucker said as he picked his sandwich back up. "Though, it looks like I was right about Sam." He said taking another jab at his friend, as everyone in the area resumed their actions.

"Don't make me hurt you Tucker." Danny said as he made his eyes glow menacingly. He then let out a small laugh as his eyes returned to normal. "In any case, that meeting is going to suck. I'm just glad that you'll be around for it. I don't think I could do it by myself." The blue eyed boy said seriously. Sam chose this moment to reenter the Nasty Burger, she didn't want them to dwell on the situation to much…that and she didn't want Tucker making any more insinuations about her and Danny.

"Why is everyone headed for the hills." She said as she took her seat once more. "It looks like they justsaw a ghost."


	5. Dress Code

I don't own Danny Phantom

Anomaly

Chapter 5

The moon shone down on the cemetery, everything covered in its light softly glowed with a deathly pallor. A light mist formed a layer upon the well kept grass, and from her place behind one of the larger gravestones Sam took in the clandestine meeting before her.

Danny and Tucker stood apprehensively before a plethora of spirits. The young girl could name only a few of them, most she had never seen before. They varied in size and shape. Some taller than any human Sam had ever seen, others so small she could barely see them from where she hid. The specters also seemed to vary chronologically. The oldest apparition looked to be from before the fall of Rome, while the youngest…well that was probably Dann_y_.The ghosts were huddled together discussing something intently, while the two boys awaited their decision.

Sam had taken it upon herself to attend the meeting that Clockwork had seen fit to inform her of. It had been surprisingly easy for her to sneak out of her house, its immense size meant she didn't have to try and be **quiet** while she crept out the front door.

When she had arrived at the cemetery a strange calm feeling had settled over the Goth, instead of the feelings of apprehension one would normally feel. It felt like she belonged there, maybe not as a resident but at this moment she knew this was where she needed to be. As she had approached the center of the graveyard she could hear the meeting already under way.

"We will consider your Request." Said a rather strange looking ghost, it was wearing a large billowy robe and where its head would have been it looked like it had a fishbowl with one large eye inside.

As the spirits convened Sam had tried to spot the few she knew. Ember and Clockwork were among the Closest to where Danny and Tucker stood, and while the ghosts talked amongst themselves she could see them look up to give Danny a slight nod or wave. A few other ghosts seemed to be in the Teens court as well. They included one who looked like a medieval princess, a nerdy looking teen from the fifties, a couple standing next to an old motorcycle, and a large yeti looking creature with an arm made of…ice, which was odd to Sam. The only ghost who was adamantly against Danny seemed to be Skulker, who ran a thumb across his neck in a threatening manner. That is until Ember elbowed him, hard; he looked slightly annoyed for a moment before rejoining the discussion. As the ghosts seemed to reach an accord Sam saw Clockwork send a look her way. After what seemed like an eternity the ghosts turned their attention back to the two teens.

"We have made our decision." The strange eye ghost said. Sam shifted uncomfortably. Whatever had been decided upon seemed to have made this particular spirit displeased, and it was apparent in his voice. She may have had no idea what the meeting was about but it was certainly important.

Clockwork separated himself from the crowd and floated over to where the two boys stood. He then leaned down and whispered something into Danny's ear. For his part the blue eyed boy looked slightly apologetic as he took a step back from the ghost.

"Sorry about that…didn't know there was a dress code." The teen said as he took a deep breath. "I'm going GHOST!!" He yelled aloud. Sam was about to laugh at his ridiculous cry when something astonishing happened. A blinding halo of light appeared around Danny's waist. It then split in two, each ring traveling in a separate direction. As the rings cleared his body Danny Phantom stood where Danny Fenton had seconds before. The young Goth was speechless, not that she had planned to say anything. Sam was now sure that sticking close to the now green eyed teen would make her life much more interesting. The ghostly hero nodded that he was now ready for them to continue.

"As I was saying we have come to a decision." The ghost in charge of the meeting said, annoyance permeating his voice. "It has been decided by a majority vote that the city of Amity Park will hence forth be considered the haunting ground of Danny Phantom." The ghost gestured to the hero in question.

"YES!!" Both Danny and Tucker exclaimed with elation. As they both started to do what appeared to be a touchdown dance, the head ghost interjected.

"As such you have the right to refuse, any spirit you deem unworthy, entry into your territory. Conversely any entity you do allow to enter you must subsequently protect." The ghost said seriously. "This is the first and most important rule failure to follow it will result in immediate reprisal. The council member responsible for you will go over the rest of the rules with you later in private. "The eyeball headed ghost motioned to Clockwork. "And be thankful he did vouch for you, since you aren't technically dead we were thinking of refusing your request outright." It said haughtily as it floated away from the graveyard. "Meeting Adjourned." It bellowed.

As the other ghosts filed out of the graveyard the few who had seemed on The hero's side ran…or rather floated over to him, A few of them giving him congratulatory pats on the back. Sam felt like running over and doing the same. It seemed that things might actually settle down around town. Though judging from the ghosts that she saw, the number of incidents wouldn't decrease but maybe there severity would, since most of these ones seemed on good terms with the…half ghost ….that sounded right.

Despite all the attention the young girl couldn't help but notice that Danny didn't seem all that happy. His smile seemed**…** less enthusiastic than it usually was. She understood why when she kept watching, he was going to miss his best friend. All the victories in the world would seem hollow next to that. For his part Tucker sat back quietly as all the ghosts began "asking" for permission to be in Amity Park, again save for Skulker and someone who kept proclaiming himself "The Box Ghost" they had demanded his permission…it was a funny sight.

After a few more minutes of small talk the ghosts began to file away until the only people left were Danny and tucker.

"That went well." Tucker said to his friend as the two of them headed to the cemetery gates. "Now I won't have to worry so much huh?" the Techno geek said in an offhand manner, though clearly he too was going to miss his friend. Though he was trying to cheer Danny up his features seemed to scream his own melancholy, His downcast eyes and his slightly hunched shoulders belied the blithe nature of words. "Yeah…you need a lift home or are you alright walking." Danny said as he floated next to his friend.

"**Na**. **I'm fine, **my house is close to here anyway." The beret wearing teen said as they passed through the entrance to the graveyard. "I'll see you tomorrow man." Tucker said as he began walking toward his house.

"See ya later Tuck." Danny said as he sighed and slowly floated off to his house.

Sam waited for a few minutes before she stood up from behind the gravestone that had been her hiding place. However before she had taken a single step a voice stopped her.

"I'm glad you accepted my invitation." Clockwork said as he materialized out of thin air, about a meter away from her. "Though I'm not surprised you showed up." He said calmly.

"You know everything…right." Sam said trying not to show her apprehension, from what she had seen of this ghost he was friendly enough. She wasn't about to let her guard down though. "So why did you "invite" me to this little get-togetheranyway." She said taking a few steps back. "I'm not exactly…part of the "in" crowd when it comes to these things." Clockwork only smiled warmly. Meeting

"It may not seem that way right now, but I assure you, you will be. With his friend leaving he's going to need all the support he can get." The ghost said shifting suddenly between his ages. "And as one who has an interest in the boy, I think you would be of great help." The infantile clockwork said, motioning to the young girl before him.

"I don't like him…like that. He is interesting though." Sam admitted dryly. "But what could he possibly need help with now. This thing….whatever has been decided. Everything should be alright…right?" she wondered aloud.

"There are those who will not abide by the truce, who do not fear the repercussions of breaking such a pact. " Clockwork shifted once more. "those who do not agree with tonight's decision will make themselves known in time, I hope that before they do, you will have decided to stand beside him." The ancient ghost said motioning in the direction Danny had flown.

"Stand beside him? You make it sound like we're getting married." Sam said shivering slightly, as a part of her mind pictured that scene. "In any case you already know what's going to happen, why would you be concerned." She tried shaking the mental picture that had been implanted, but it was a wasted effort.

"I see all futures…and I assure you not all are as bright as you would imagine." Clockwork said seriously. "The best possible outcomes cannot be had without your help." He said becoming an old man once more. "I cannot force you to help, nor would I. but I would ask that you think about it." The old ghost said smiling at her once more.

"Why do you care so much what happens to Danny?" Sam asked honestly. "I mean you're a ghost…no offence." She said shrugging slightly.

"None taken, I care because he is my responsibility. I once had a hand in altering his future to avert a terrible possible outcome. Since a person as pivotal to the world only comes about every thousand years or so I felt it my duty to help him out…plus he's a good kid." Clockwork said with complete sincerity.

"Well thanks for the invite…Clockwork was it." Sam said apprehensively as she began heading in the direction of her house. As the girl backed away she silently thought about Danny. "I'll consider what you said." The Goth then began to pick up her pace…no matter how much she liked morbid things a cemetery on the night of a full moon was still pretty spooky. The ancient ghost smiled as she made her way to the street.

"I know you will."


	6. That Was You?

I don't own Danny Phantom

Anomaly

Chapter 6

"You know rumors are starting to spread." Danny said looking sideways. He had barely touched the food on his tray. It had been a week since his best friend had left town, Though they still kept in contact thanks to Tuckers knack for technology. The techno savvy teen had setup a PDA for Danny that would allow them to talk back and forth without any problems. However, this did little to ease Danny's mind.

"Eh… Let 'em talk." Sam said taking a seat next to the blue eyed boy. She had taken into account Clockwork's words and decided that she would at the very least keep an eye on Danny. "Besides I'm used to the stares and the whispering." The young girl said as she stared at her lunch and its questionable color. Since tucker had departed Danny wasn't left with any actual friends. He had acquaintances and a couple of people he talked to, but since he had such a big secret he usually opted to keep people at arm's length. He had tried to alienate Sam the first few days after his friends' departure; however he had underestimated her stubbornness.

Sam, in her quest to earn his trust had slowly begun to worm her way into his life. She had started sitting next to him during their classes, this seemed strange to her at first since most of the time she was occupying what had once been Tuckers seat. The young girl had also opted to continue sitting with him during lunchtime. The result of all of this was that despite the fact that she had become somewhat of a fixture in his day, rumors had begun to spread like wildfire that the two of them were dating.

"Though I'm sure you would much rather everyone think you were going out with Paulina." Sam said trying to get a rise out of the boy. She seemed to remember that he had a crush on her at some point during their freshmen year, and for some reason it bugged her. The Goth had never liked the popular girl, she was convinced that the Paulina was a succubus of some kind.

"No…no. I learned my lesson last year." Danny said surprisingly quickly, as he looked over at Sam. "I went to a dance with her once, freshmen year, and she was only going with me so she could embarrass me." He said rather sourly. "Besides she's a little superficial… you know not much too her after the fact." He said poking at his food with his fork.

"Did you just call her shallow?" Sam said looking at him incredulously. The young girl didn't think there was a boy in the school who wouldn't fall at the popular girls' feet if she so much as looked in their direction.

"I'm saying, I think I could stand in a puddle of her and not get my feet wet." his lips curved up in a knowing smile as he turned to the girl next to him. Sam had heard that somewhere before…it nagged at her for a moment, until realization crashed down upon her.

"Wait…I said that." Sam said trying to remember all the details. "At the first dance last year…To Paulina's face." The memory was becoming clearer with every second. "She had brought some guy and then dumped him the moment they got there, and she was bragging about it to all her friends." As Sam finished her sentence she looked at Danny with wide eyes.

"Then you let her have it." The young boy said almost laughing. "I could hear you yelling clear across the dance floor. It made me realize that you can't judge a book by its cover…or something like that." He said trying not to laugh at the look on Sam's face.

"That was you." Sam said incredulously. She remembered the incident clearly now. It had earned her the scorn of the entirety of the popular click. However since none of them dared to mess with her directly, they had simply whispered amongst themselves and given her scathing looks. "Well I'm glad something positive came of that." She said honestly. "One less mindless sheep for, little Bo peep." Sam said smiling a little.

"After that I thought about trying to thank you…but you were kinda surly." Danny said looking as though he might need to defend himself. "I didn't want you to chew my head off." He said waiting for her to respond.

"Well you didn't need to thank me I was just doing my civic duty." Sam said smiling brightly. When she looked back at Danny the look on his face was hard to decipher…it closely resembled shock. "What is something on my face?" She said wiping at her cheek.

"I didn't know Goths could smile like that." The young boy tried to suppress the warmth in his cheeks. "It looks good on you." Danny averted his eyes from her, as she did the same. That strange feeling was back…the one the young girl couldn't quite place. Not knowing what to do about it she tried to regain her stony demeanor.

"We can… it's just not all that common." She said trying to act nonchalant. "I was just happy to know that all men aren't complete idiots." Sam said deflecting; she didn't have a clue why she was happy enough to smile like that. Smirking was more her style.

"Thanks for the compliment." Danny said regaining his composure.

"I never said you weren't an n idiot…just not a complete one. It looks like there's hope for you yet." Sam said as she nudged Danny slightly with her elbow. "Anyway, about those rumors, like I said let them talk. It's not like there's any truth to it. Eventually it'll all blow over. "The young girl said turning her attention once more to her food. As she did so, she missed a small look of disappointment flash across her friend's features. The look, however, disappeared as quickly as it shown up.

"Hey what are you doing after school?" he asked suddenly.

* * *

"What is that?" Sam said pointing to the giant metallic structure that towered above her. Danny had invited her over to hang out after school. She had known his parents were a little crazy what with their obsession with ghost hunting, but since the town had recently been inhabited by a number of the supernatural beings, she had thought that they had been proven relatively sane. The hulking UFO shaped attachment to their house made her doubt them once more.

"That's just the ops center. It's where my parents keep all the equipment for sensing, finding and studying ghosts." Danny said this as though it was the most normal thing in the world. Sam wondered how good the equipment could be if it couldn't even sense the ghost directly below it. "Don't pay any attention to it…I don't." he said opening his front door. For a moment Sam's mind wondered how he had remained so normal despite his upbringing…well mostly normal. Actually outwardly normal was a good way to describe it. Inside he was a strange complex individual.

As they entered the house the young girl was surprised at how normal the inside of it was. She had expected something from a Sci-fi movie. Granted there were a few things that seemed out of place. Some strange metal fixtures here and there, she had no idea what kinds of purposes they possessed but she guessed they were most likely ghost related.

"Do you want something to drink…I don't think we have anything eco friendly, for you to eat, at the moment, unless you count some snack foods." Danny said trying not make a complete fool of himself. Judging by the look on his face it was the first time he had ever had anyone other than tucker in his house. Probably the only time he had brought a girl over as well.

"Water would be fine." Sam said trying to be a good guest. After a moment of looking around his kitchen she noticed a distinct lack of noise in the house. "Where is everyone else." She said taking a seat at the table.

"My parents are probably down in there lab, and my sister is most likely studying in her room." Danny said as he poured a glass of water and set it down in front of her. "She seriously studies way too much." The young boy said trying to keep talking; it helped him with his nerves. Sam was somewhat surprised to hear that his parents had an actual lab inside their house.

"Is that were your parents make all there ghost hunting gear." Sam asked, as Danny winced a little. From the looks of things he was trying to act as normal as possible. Bringing up his parents' strange hobbies had somewhat thwarted his attempts. However now that it had been asked he just embraced it.

"Yeah they make all sorts of neat gadgets and gizmos. Though most of the time they look sort of ridiculous…or have stupid names." The boy said as he pulled up a chair next to the girl. "Like the Fenton thermos or the Booooomerang." He took a sip of the juice he had brought with him.

"I saw that Phantom guy using one of those thermos things the other day." Sam was trying to be tactful. She didn't want him to know that she knew his secret. The young girl also wanted to get a look at some of the ghost hunting gear. She had pretty much decided that she was going to help Danny if the need ever arose. Without Tucker around he might need some backup. But she was willing to wait until he was comfortable enough to tell her his secret.

"Um…yeah. He stole one a while ago. I hear he uses it well though." Danny said nervously. He was saved from trying to change the subject when a chilled breath escaped his lips. "I got to go to the bathroom…Bad!" he yelled suddenly and unabashedly. "I'll be back." The young boy dashed out of the room so quickly Sam didn't even have time to react. She almost went to follow him, but knew it would be a fruitless endeavor.

As the young Goth sat in the quiet of the kitchen, she wondered what it would be like to be a super hero with a secret identity. It struck her as overly complex, though with Danny's parents being ghost hunters it seemed appropriate. She was also glad to know that the boys' sister was accepting of his secret, it was good to know he had someone to talk to.

For a short time Sam had entertained the idea of telling Danny that she knew his secret, but she didn't want to drive him away. He might react badly if he found out that she had known his secret…or that she had sort of stalked him in order to learn it. The young Goth was broken from her thoughts when someone entered the kitchen.

"What are you doing in my house?" It was Danny's sister. "Are you still stalking my brother!" the older girl said taking a defensive posture. Sam rolled her eyes at the red haired girl.

"I told you I wasn't stalking him, and if you must know he invited ME over." The young Goth said turning in her chair to face Danny's sister. "But then he ran off saying something about using the toilet." She said explaining the absence of the boy in question.

"Oh… I thought he might invite his friend Sam over one of these days" Jazz said dropping her defense. "But instead he invites a girl over?" the older girl said this as though it were an impossibility. For some reason, that struck the younger girl as somewhat mean. She supposed it was because of the reputation his parents had garnered over the last few years. Jazz must have thought no girl in their right mind would approach Danny because of this.

"I'm Sam." The young Goth said putting on her most disaffected scowl. Something in Sam's brain made her want to show Jazz what for.

"But you're a girl." Jazz said confusedly.

"Did he ever say Sam was a guy?" The young Goth said continuing to scowl.

"No…but you're a girl." Once more the older girl sounded really confused. "Danny always gets…Awkward around girls."

"Oh trust me, he's awkward." Sam said sarcastically. "But he's gotten over that…mostly." The young girl let her face relax some. "Anyway, I'm Sam or Samantha…but don't call me that. " Sam said holding her hand out to the older girl, who eyed her suspiciously for a moment before extending hers in kind.

"Jazz." The red haired girl introduced herself. " You may want to go wait in the living room, Danny might be a while. " she said relaxing somewhat, However just as the two girls had seemed to reach an accord the basement door suddenly burst open to reveal two jumpsuit clad adults. The big one in the day glow orange suit eyed both of them for a moment. When he noticed the pallor of the Goth his eyes went wide behind his goggles, and he pulled out a strange looking device pointing it in her direction menacingly.

"GHOST!!!"


	7. Fenton Scrambler

I don't own Danny Phantom, And once more i would like to thank Pterodactyl for beta reading.

Anomaly

Chapter 7

"GHOST, GHOST, GHOOOSSSST!!!!" The man in the orange jumpsuit continued to yell with an ear piercing consistency, as the strange metal device in his hand started to glow. However before he could take action Jazz interrupted.

"Daad!!! That's not a ghost, it's Danny's friend." The red haired girl said as she stood protectively in front of the young Goth. "Can't you use your head, just once?" Jazz said stomping her foot down, as her father lowered his weapon slowly.

"So… She's not a ghost. "The large man said sounding somewhat depressed. "Aw, I wanted to test out the Fenton Scrambler, it makes a ghost completely unable to control its powers making it a threat to itself and everything around it**…**" He said the former like a child whose toy had been taken away, and the latter with a strange sense of pride.

"Jack honey, maybe you should put that away until we work the bugs out of it." The second of the two adults said. She was also wearing a jumpsuit. Hers however was a more mellow blue color. "Besides I think **you're** scaring our guest." The woman said in a calming manner, as she removed the head cover of her suit. Sam was surprised when the face of a perfectly normal mother emerged from underneath. "Hello, I'm Danny's mother, Maddie." She said extending her hand to Sam. "And this is his father, Jack." The older woman said motioning to her husband. Sam slowly reached her hand out still eying Danny's father somewhat nervously as Maddie spoke up once more. "And what's your name?" she asked kindly

"Samantha Manson." The young Goth said as the two of them shook hands lightly. She silently wondered why she had used her whole first name. "Sam for short." The young girl said as she pulled her hand away. However before she had time to even react a large gloved hand grabbed hers and began shaking vigorously.

"Nice to meet you Sam, any friend of Danny's is welcome in our home." Jack said refusing to loosen his grip. "I bet you can't wait to listen to me blather on for hours about our ghost hunting exploits." He said not even paying attention anymore. As Sam was about to ask for her hand back both Maddie and Jazz jumped in to save the young Goth.

"Jack don't you want to go fix the bugs in the Scrambler." The woman in the blue jumpsuit said trying to get her husband to focus his attention elsewhere.

"Yeah dad… if you fix that, you might be able to beat that ghost kid." Jazz said with absolutely no belief in her own words. As the two women spoke Jack's face grew bright.

"That's a great plan; I'll get that ghost kid one of these days." Jack said as he held the strange metal device up like it was to be revered. He then dashed back down the stairs into what Sam assumed was their laboratory. The young girl breathed a sigh of relief. She had no intention of listening to anyone blather about anything for hours.

"So you're the one Danny's' been talking about." Maddie said taking a seat at the table. "I was expecting a boy." She said honestly. "Though it's good to know he has some other friends. We were worried when Tucker moved." the woman's face took on a more concerned look. "Those two have been friends since kindergarten." Sam slowly sat back in the seat she had been in when Jazz arrived.

"Yeah, I just started getting to know the two of them when I heard that Tucker was moving." The Goth said trying to be conversational. "Danny looked like he could use another friend, that and the Goth table can be sort of boring." she said somewhat nervously. Some parents didn't like to let their children associate with the "likes of her".

"Well thanks for taking care of him. I know he can be a bit stubborn…he gets it from his father." The older woman said passing the blame. "And sorry about my husband he can be a bit overzealous at times." Maddie said as she turned to her daughter. "Jazz why don't you get our guest something to eat." It may have been worded as a suggestion, however it sounded like an order.

"Isn't that Danny's' job." Jazz, who had been watching the whole exchange from edge of the room, finally spoke up. "Besides I don't think she wants leftover's that can fight back." The redheaded girl said crossing her arms defiantly. Maddie was about to say something when Sam interjected.

"Actually Danny already brought me a glass of water." She said trying to defend her friend, as the other two women looked as though that wasn't nearly enough.

"Where Is Danny anyway? He knows better than to leave his guests unattended, especially a pretty young woman such as yourself." Danny's mother said motioning to her guest. For a few moments Sam sat without saying anything. She figured it must be because his parents dealt with ghosts and the supernatural all day that her appearance didn't faze them. She had a few friends in her middle school that were forbidden from associating with her when she had decided to become a Goth. the young girl felt her heart warm for some reason, she had been accepted here so easily where as her parents were still up in arms about her lifestyle decision.

"He said he had to use the restroom." Sam said as she finally remembered to answer. "He should be back any moment." She actually had no idea when he would be back, but it sounded better than nothing. As the Goth finished her sentence Jazz took up the seat next to her.

"Knowing Danny he could be in there for a while." To Sam it sounded like the older girl was trying to cover for her brother, just in case he happened to be doing something other than going to the bathroom. "He also gets that from our father." She said explaining to Sam half jokingly. The three women let out soft laughter at the joke. Their laughter died down when a noise came from the hallway behind them, as Danny entered the room shivering slightly while mumbling to him.

"Note to self: next time tell Klemper no." As the young boy entered the room he spotted the three women at the table. His face became somewhat ashen as he froze in mid-step. "Mom…Jazz… I take it you've met Sam." He said nervously as his mother eyed him.

"We were just introducing ourselves." Danny's mother said, as she stood up and walked over to him. He shrunk back some as she leaned down to whisper to him. "Remember not to leave a lady waiting, next time we might not be there to save her from your father." What little color was left in his face left. Sam laughed softly, his mother had whispered just loudly enough for her to hear. "Now why don't you two go watch a movie or something and I'll make dinner." Maddie said in her most motherly voice.

"Are you sure it's alright if I stay for dinner." Sam said as she stood up and walked over to Danny. "I don't want to impose." She said apprehensively.

"Of course you're welcome to stay, I would be offended if you didn't." the older woman said as she put on an apron over her jumpsuit. "Jazz would you care to help me." She said, once more it sounded less like a question and more like an order. The red haired girl sighed slightly and stood up to help her mother.

"Alright, but later I want you to help me with my thesis." She said trying to get something out of her predicament. "I'm having trouble with its presentation." Jazz said washing her hands.

"Oh…Sam's like a super vegetarian or something, so you might want to make something…Meat free." Danny said, remembering the preference of his friend.

"Its Ultra Recycle-o-vegetarian or Vegan." Sam said indignantly. "And you really don't have to go through the trouble." She said trying to avoid imposing on them more than she already had.

"Don't worry about it." Maddie said, pulling a cook book from one of the cupboards. "It's nice to know that some children eat healthy." She threw a look at her children. "Now the two of you…Scoot." She said shooing Danny and Sam out of the kitchen.

As the two teens headed toward the living room Danny turned to apologize.

"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to let you get caught unaware by my parents." He said leading her into their spacious den. "Especially my dad…he's a bit… eccentric." The young boy sat down on the couch, and Sam followed his lead.

"He seemed nice enough though…after he stopped aiming the…Fenton something or other at me." She said laughing some more. "And your mom and sister are pretty cool." She said as her bout of laughter ceased. "I was surprised when your parents didn't automatically give me the stink eye for being a Goth." she said honestly.

"They don't tend to discriminate…unless you're a ghost." It sounded like he was speaking from personal experience. "As long as you have a pulse, you're ok in their book." Danny said as he picked up the TV remote. "So what kind of movie do you want to watch?" He said pressing the power button.

"Horror." Sam said with a wry smile. "It's my favorite."

* * *

Danny looked completely embarrassed as both he and his parents were seeing the young Goth off.

The evening had gone pretty well in Sam's Book. The movie had been interesting. Though the best part had been when the ghost in the movie had attacked a young couple so suddenly that it caused Danny to nearly jump out of his seat. It had taken him a moment to realize that in the heat of the moment he had latched onto Sam. He then turned bright red and shot to the other side of the couch claiming he had only jumped because she did, thoughshe had done no such thing.

After the movie had finished Danny's mother had called them for dinner. As everyone gathered around the table Jack had become confused by the meal before them. It was a vegetable soup. The older man had queried as to where there actual dinner was, but was silent once Maddie had told him to eat or he would get no fudge for desert. For the rest of the meal everyone talked happily about what they had done that day, though they all had to duck when jack pulled the Scrambler back out as he described his evening.

As they finished eating Sam began excusing herself, her parents would start to wonder what had happened to her if she didn't get back at some point. However, as it was getting darker out Danny's parents didn't want her to go without some form of protection. So they gave her some of their ghost hunting equipment. She now held in her hands a Fenton Thermos and something called a Mini-Fenton Portable Portal, and around her waist was a strange looking belt called a specter deflector. She had seen the thermos in action but she had to ask what the other devices did.

The two adults had explained to her that the belt, if active would repel any ghost she came into contact with. She learned that it really meant any ghost when Danny had refused to go near her once the belt was on. The second device was small and pistol shaped with the letters MFPP along the side of the barrel. Its purpose was to create a small portal to a place the Fenton's called the "Ghost Zone". If the portal was to be opened next to a ghost it would send them back to their own dimension. However this mini version could only be used once, and then it would need to be recharged so she was told to use it wisely.

"Have a safe trip, and don't forget you're always welcome in the Fenton household." Maddie said pointing to the large sign that hung above their door, the words "Fenton Works" lit up brightly for all to see.

"Maybe next time you can stay and listen to all my stories about ghosts, or embarrassing stories about Danny that he doesn't want you to hear!" Jack said waiving happily to the girl. Through all of this the young boy stood mortified. However he put on a small smile as he waved to her. The look on his face said "sorry about my parents."

"I'll see you tomorrow Sam." He said as he continued to wave. The young girl gave a short wave as she headed in the direction of her house.

"See you later…And thanks for dinner!" Sam called to them.

As she turned the corner at the end of the street she felt a strange sense of contentment it was almost… warm and fuzzy, but she hated to describe it like that. The Goth in her wouldn't allow her to describe anything she was feeling as warm and fuzzy. The strange thing was, the feeling she was experiencing and the one she sometimes got whenever Danny would give her his goofy smile were very similar. Her "darker side" refused to admit that she felt either emotion, so it took the emotions she "wasn't feeling" and hid them as best it could, though at the moment it wasn't very well.


	8. Wiggly Air

I don't own Danny Phantom. again i would like to thank Pterodactyl for beta reading, and thanks to anyone who is reading this.

Anomaly

Chapter 8

As Sam made her way home through the muggy streets, her mind raced with thoughts. She wondered how exactly a person could be a ghost without being dead. She also wondered how a ghost…erm…half ghost had survived under the same roof as Jack Fenton for at least a year and a half. Had Danny died as the result of one of his parent's experiments only to be resuscitated too late, or was he dipped in a vat of ectoplasm…or hit by a rogue beam of ghost radiation**?** The young girl's imagination was about to get away with her when she was pulled back to reality by a small noise.

It wasn't a natural noise either, it sounded like a person mumbling, only quieter. The young Goth was only slightly annoyed that she recognized the voice instantly. Letting out an irritated sigh Sam turned to face the voice.

"Danny if you were so…" however the girl was perplexed for a moment when there was nothing there. After a tense moment she remembered that her friend had abilities that allowed him to hide in plain sight. She glared at the air in front of her as she noticed something strange. Directly in ahead of her was…wiggly air. It was the only way to describe what she was seeing. She once more let out a small sigh, and in the same motion turned on the Specter Deflector and reached out to the warped space. There was a slight tingling sensation in her hand as the air filled with an electric crackling.

"YEOOWWWW!!" Danny's voice yelled from the air in front of her. "Do you have a sixth sense or something." His voice said filled with annoyance.

"I do see dead people from time to time." Sam said sarcastically.

"Ha very funny Sa…." The voice stopped suddenly as if considering. "Young lady…" he sounded very unsure of himself. Sam however thought it was hilarious that he had almost let her name slip so easily. "Seriously how did you know I was there?" Danny said as he moved around her. "I'm Invisible." He sounded somewhat worried.

"I don't know what your body…or ecto... temperature is, but it's clearly far lower than your surroundings, so much so that I can sort of see where you are." Sam said pointing to his approximate location. "Now…why are you following me." The young Goth said holding the Fenton thermos up threateningly. She had a feeling he was just making sure she got home ok but she couldn't pass up an opportunity to mess with the town hero.

"HEY… watch where you're pointing that thing, you have no idea what it's like to be stuck in one of those. " Danny's voice said half with panic and half with distain. "I was just making sure you got home alright… its almost dark…and in this town that can mean trouble." He said, as the distortion in the air moved around to her side. Sam kept the business end of the thermos trained on him.

"Hmm…I think I can handle myself." The young girl said placing the containment device back in her backpack. "Though I think having the town hero trapped inside of a Thermos would make a nice conversation piece." She said with a devilish smile.

"How did you know who I was?" Danny said sounding nervous. Sam wanted to roll her eyes. It might be easy to act normal around him while he was Fenton, but he seemed to be more high strung when he was Phantom.

"I saw you like last week...you were fighting that little green guy in the metal suit." She said trying to assuage his worries. "Besides you're like the town mascot or something. They even put you on a couple of the billboards." She said grimacing slightly. "It's a little tacky...no offense." The young girl said as she slung her backpack over her shoulder.

"None taken… I'm not too fond of them myself." Sam could almost see the look on his face. "I didn't even get a say in it either." He said with mock outrage.

"In any case I can walk home perfectly fine, the Fenton's gave me some of their anti-ghost gear, and any human stupid enough to mess with me is going to get the business end of my boots." The young Goth motioned to the large combat boots on her feet. "So you can go save some other damsel in distress." She said poking at the spot where he stood….or floated. She couldn't tell which.

"Alright, alright…I'm going." The voice said as it moved farther from her.

"It's the thought that counts." Sam said yelling after him. The only response she got from him was a slight dismissal. "The names Sam!" she didn't want him to keep calling her young lady…or citizen, as she had often heard him call people around town. When she received no response she considered it safe to continue on her way.

Sam would have liked to talk to him while he was Phantom for a little longer but she had wanted to ensure that he was gone before she made her way home. If there was one thing she did not want Danny and by proxy the whole school to know, was that she was filthy rich.

Actually that was describing it poorly…she was filthy stinking rich. The young Goth had gone to great lengths to keep this a secret from everyone. Though that wasn't all that hard when the only people she talked to with any frequency were the other patrons of the local occult bookstore; The Skulk and Lurk. Thought now that she was hanging around with Danny more she would have to try harder to maintain her secret.

As she once more trudged the muggy street of Amity Park she wished she had some sort of Fenton Ghost Radar, to make absolutely sure that Danny had given up on walking her home. The young girl then rolled her eyes slightly.

"Why did I put the name Fenton in front of that**?**"

* * *

As Sam made her way through the front door of her house she was suddenly accosted by her parents.

"And just where were you young lady." Her mother said in an authoritative tone, as she bore down on her daughter. Despite her pink dress she was rather domineering, and Sam had no intention with listening to this for the, what seemed to be the thousandth time. "We tried calling your cell phone multiple times, and you never picked up." The older woman said frowning.

"We were worried sick about you." Her father chimed in. Sam looked between the two of them, clearly unimpressed with their parental routine. She had seen them this way a thousand times. This time however they were in the wrong…not that they weren't every other time, but this time she had actually called the house before hand.

"But…I did call." Sam said not letting any emotion into her voice. She hated it when her parents treated her this way, like she couldn't take care of herself. She also knew that they hated it when she got defensive, so she was trying to be as calm as possible. "I left a message with Grandma." The young girl said passively, well almost passively there was a slight hint of triumph in her voice.

"Mother is this true**?**" Sam's mother said turning to face a small elderly woman. The woman in question was sitting in a small power scooter, situated in front of a small TV. "Mother**!**" The woman in the pink dress said once more, though this time a little louder.

"What**?**" The elderly woman said taking her attention away from the TV.

"Did Sam call earlier?" The middle aged woman said placing her hands on her hips with impatience. Sam always loved watching exchanges between the two of them. It was like watching a comedy duo, her mother would get angry and start fuming and her grandmother would simply remain calm and collected…well more like slightly eccentric, but you get the idea.

"Oh yes…she said something about going over to little Jack Fenton's place." The older woman said as she wobbled about on her scooter. "You know I used to baby sit him not that long ago." She said informatively.

"THE FENTONS." Sam's mother said incredulously. "What on earth were you doing over there, they're nothing but a bunch of lunatics**!**" Her pink dress seemed to ruffle with annoyance. "I can't count the number of times their…their… strange behavior has interfered with our PTA meetings." Her face contorted like she had eaten something unpleasant.

"Oh, calm down Pamela." Sam's grandmother maneuvered her ride over to where the conversation was taking place. "They might be a bit strange…but they're good people." She said smiling at her granddaughter.

"That may be**,** but it still begs the question." Pamela said turning to her daughter. "Why were you there to begin with." She said standing closer to her husband in hopes of looking more imposing. Though for his part Sam's father didn't seem as offended as her mother, but he had to back his wife up in such situations.

"Well, you're always saying that I should try and make friends…and I did. Danny, their son. They even invited me for dinner, and his mother went through the trouble to make sure it was vegetarian" She said putting on a winning smile, well it came off more like a smirk…but she was trying. "Besides, Danny is more normal than his parents." She said it with a straight face despite it being an outright lie. He may have a more balanced personality but he was far from normal, which was her favorite thing about him.

"We do say that." Her father said trying to be somewhat understanding. "We can't really be mad at her for making a friend." He said giving his daughter a small smile, as he did so his wife rounded on him, Although instead of yelling like everyone expected her features softened somewhat.

"I suppose you're right. We should look at this as a step forward." Pamela said as she straightened her husband's tie. She then turned back to face her daughter. "Well, I suppose I can tolerate this then, though at some point I want you to introduce us. I want to meet my daughters' friends." Thought she said it with an almost too happy face there seemed to be an almost sinister implication behind her words. Sam just rolled her eyes. If she ever did introduce him, her mother would most likely put him through some form of horrible interrogation.

"I'll make sure to do that." The young girl said with almost no intention of doing so. "Anyway, I'm going to go take a shower, its humid out." She said pulling on the front of her shirt to air it out. "And next time I'll make sure let you know where I am." Sam said trying to pander to her parents. "I promise." She said leaving the room.

As she made her way down the hall she could hear her parents talk amongst themselves. The young girl hadn't even been aware that her parents had known Danny's family, though she did remember them yelling about some nitwit who kept interrupting there PTA meetings…that sounded like Jack Fenton to her. When she came to the stairway leading to the second floor she heard her grandmother's scooter approaching, and turned around to face her.

"Did you really baby-sit Danny's dad?" Sam asked curiously.

"Oh my yes, Poor little guy was scared to death of ghosts." The elderly woman said stopping in front of her granddaughter. "Wouldn't go to sleep until you checked everywhere in his room for the things." She said smiling warmly as she remembered. Sam blinked a few times…that explained why he was so gung ho about ghost hunting. However it was hard to imagine Jack Fenton being afraid of anything, he just seemed to lack the ability to process fear. "I remember telling him that if he would face his fear he could conquer it and he wouldn't be afraid anymore." She said absently.

"I think he took your advice. He's a ghost hunter now, you know." Sam said awaiting her grandmother's response. However the old woman seemed lost in her thoughts, as she began driving away in her scooter. "And his son's a ghost." She said in an offhand manner.

"That's nice dear." The elderly woman said softly as she turned into a room about halfway down the hall. Sam smiled slightly; she loved her grandmother more than anyone. She did love her parents, but her grandmother had always been the only one that understood her and supported her decisions. Sam was also under the impression that the older woman only liked to play the part of a forgetful old person. She had often seen a look in her grandmother's eyes that said she still knew what was going on.

The young girl then sighed as she headed up to her room, sincerely hoping that Danny never have the pleasure of being subjected to her parents.


	9. Food Fright

I don't own Danny Phantom, and once more i would like to thank Pterodactyl for beta reading. Also chapter 5 has been modified slightly for your reading pleasure.

Anomaly

Chapter 9

"How is it that you can use that in the middle of school and not get caught?" Sam said pointing to the sleek black PDA in Danny's hand. He reflexively held it lower hoping the lunch table would obscure it. "You too Tuck, It's like you guys have mastered some long forgotten ninja art, or something." The young girl said shaking her head slightly.

"Well, Techno savvy people such as myself have long since learned to hide our gadgets to avoid having them confiscated by the teachers." Tucker said, his voice coming from the electronic device in Danny's hand. "And I taught Danny all my secrets… well some of them. Actually just the ones he could understand." Though he was far away Tucker loved to poke fun at his friend.

"Hey, I know a thing or two about discretion." The blue eyed teen said trying to get his friend to be a little more quiet." He then turned to the girl sitting next to him. "And it's not like we're using it in the middle of class, we just use it during lunchtime." He gave Sam a small shrug. "Though, I suppose you're right. It is a bit silly to use it during school." The young boy said looking down at the screen apologetically. "I'll see you later Tuck." He said as he held down the power button.

"Hey...Don't you turn me off." Tucker said indignantly. "I know you want to be alone with your Girlfr…" He was cut off in mid sentence as the PDA went dark. Sam looked at the device with a raised eyebrow.

"Did the rumors spread to his school as well?" She said raising her eyes to look at Danny.

"No, Tucker just likes to be annoying." He said slightly perturbed. "I'll call him after school, at some point." Danny said stuffing the PDA into his pants pocket. "Anyway…what were you saying?" The young boy said turning his attention back to the girl next to him.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I was wondering if you had noticed anything weird in the last week or two." She said smiling inwardly, for some reason she loved to watch him panic and come up with excuses. "it's like the ghosts are on vacation or something…or they've got some weird reason not to attack the town." Sam said trying to sound as innocent as possible. Danny however nearly dropped the drink he was picking up.

"Nope didn't notice anything of the sort, in fact I have no idea what you're talking about." He said panicking as he made a poor attempt at covering for himself. "They're probably just resting or something…yeah that's it." The young boy said trying desperately to think of a way to steer the conversation in a different direction. "Hey did you study for that math test." He blurted out without really thinking about what he was saying. Sam cracked a grin.

"No not really but I…" however she never got a chance to continue their small talk, as the wall next to them suddenly collapsed. As the students in the lunchroom began to scream and panic in an almost orderly fashion, Danny let out a sigh of relief. To which Sam gave him a questioning glance.

"I mean …OH no a ghost!!" The boy yelled with little emotion, he then reached out and grabbed Sam's wrist. "We should get out of here." He said sounding more serious, as he pulled her along out of the lunchroom. The young girl was about to protest when she heard a deep menacing voice from the direction of the new hole in the wall.

"WHERE IS DANNY PHANTOM" The voice reverberated through the nearly abandoned lunchroom. Danny began to pick up the pace, as he pulled Sam out into the hallway. However instead of heading for the front door like everyone else, he pushed the young girl in the direction of the exit as he himself dashed off to the bathroom.

"What are you doing!!?" Sam yelled to him over the cacophony of the hallway. "The exit is this way." She continued. For a moment she had forgotten that he was what the attacking ghost was looking for.

"When you gotta, go you gotta go." Danny yelled back to her as if it explained everything. He then slipped into the bathroom unnoticed by anyone but Sam. As the door closed a bright flash of light could be seen from the crack underneath the doorway. Not wanting to miss what was going to happen next, Sam began to move against the flood of students back toward the lunchroom doors.

As she took a quick peek through the window to see what was going on she was surprised to find that the Cafeteria was now almost completely outside. The walls and ceiling had been rent asunder and at the epicenter of the disaster area was the ghost responsible for the carnage. It was a Knight clad in dark armor, who sat atop a nightmarish steed. The horses black wings moving methodically as it held its master aloft.

"Hey. Fright Nut." A very familiar voice cried out as a single beam of green light tore across the ruins of her school. The Knight barely avoided the beam, as he turned to face his attacker. Floating just outside the building was Danny in Phantom mode. For some reason Sam wished she had gotten a chance to hear his ridiculous battle cry. "Come to get your butt kicked again." The ghostly hero said with great confidence.

"No, you insolent whelp, I have come to destroy you!!" the Knight bellowed as he held out an armor clad hand to signal his attack. At his command his steed shot forward, gouts of purple fire issuing forth from its flaring nostrils.

"Well you know how the saying goes, fight fire with ice…Well my saying that is." Danny said holding up his hand, as a shining blue beam burst forth from his palm. It collided with the nightmare several feet away from the ghostly teenager. The horse began to struggle as ice started to cover its body. As the chill spread to the animal's wings it could no longer maintain its altitude and plummeted toward the earth. "Ha, you need some new tricks." The young teen crossed his arms triumphantly. However he failed to notice that the rider of the horse had managed to escape his attack.

"LOOK OUT!!" Sam yelled, as she saw the armor clad ghost closing in on Danny. However her shout, intended to help warn him, had the opposing effect. The hero cocked his head in her direction.

"Sam?" he said confusedly, as the Knights sword Sliced cleanly through his body. The young girl let out a cry of horror as she beheld the scene, though before she could scream for too long the Ghostly hero suddenly vanished into thin air. Sam suddenly swallowed the end of her cry, as her face grew dark.

"What did you do to him!!?" Sam suddenly shrieked forgetting her fear. She began to glare daggers at the ghoulish Knight. He turned his attention to her slowly, though he wore a large helmet he seemed to be giving a confused and somewhat offended aura. It said that a lowly human should not question the likes of him. After a moment of considering the girl the flames around the ghost and his steed began to flare. Suddenly Sam's ire didn't seem as intense.

"You dare raise your voice to me, The Fright Knight!" the ghost said menacingly. Sam suddenly wished she hadn't left the gear the Fenton's had given to her inside her locker. The young girl began backing toward the door slowly, she had no intention of being the ghost's next victim, but she needed to get some help. Maybe Danny could be saved if someone beat this freak.

"Um…no. I was just asking loud so you could hear me." The Goth said, as she held her hands up in a placating manner. "I'm just going to go…and let you do whatever it is you're planning to do now." She said sidling toward the exit. The armored ghost; however appeared to have different plans.

"I plan to destroy everything, and claim this land as my own." He said as he mounted his steed once more. "And I shall start with you." The ghost pulled on the reigns and began to charge straight at Sam, holding his sword high ready to strike. However, seconds before his attack landed, both he and his nightmare were hit squarely in the side, by a spiraling blue ray, and sent flying through one of the walls on the far end of the ruined cafeteria.

Sam looked for the source of the attack hoping to find Danny. She was slightly shocked to find that the ray had been fired from the headlight of an old motorcycle… a flying motorcycle. It dove through the open ceiling and came to a stop directly in front of the young Goth.

"Hey there little lady, looks like you could use a hand." The ghost on the motorcycle nodded to her with a smile. For a ghost he looked relatively normal. He appeared to be in his late teens, and from the looks of his outfit, he must have died sometime in the fifties. "You must be that chick the twerp was talking about." As he finished his sentence he was slapped hard on the back of his head.

"Johnny!!" a voice said from behind the ghostly biker. "You need to learn to shut your mouth." the female voice said once more, as out from behind the biker leaned a young woman…ghost. Sam recognized them from the meeting that had taken place about two weeks ago. From what she remembered they were Danny's…friends…acquaintances…well they were something.

"Right, sorry about that." Johnny said scratching the back of his head. He seemed to have forgotten that Danny's condition was a secret. As he apologized the Fright Knight came bursting back into the room. However instead of looking too concerned the ghostly biker simply narrowed his eyes in the knight's direction. "Shadow, ATTACK!!" he yelled suddenly. Sam was amazed when the shadow underneath the motorcycle suddenly sprang to life and rushed at the medieval menace. The Shadow then passed above the section of wall directly over the knight causing it to crumble instantly. It then fell trapping the evil ghost.

"Where is that Phantom brat anyway, this is his job." The female ghost said looking around for signs of the teenage hero. She then looked at Sam questioningly. "I heard him just a second ago." The Goths face became downcast.

"That Fright Knight guy sliced him in half with his sword." Sam said, suddenly becoming filled with dread.

"Ew…that's no good. Anyone cut with the soul shredder is sent to a dimension where they live out their worst fears." The Female ghost said getting off the motorcycle. "You should get out of here before you end up like him." As the ghost said this the Fright Knight once more burst into the room.

"Fools, you think you can defeat me with such feeble attacks." The armor clad ghost said rushing at the ghostly couple. However before he made it halfway to them he shot a strange projectile wreathed in purple flames. Before anyone had time to react it impacted with Johnny's chest and exploded with enough force to send both ghosts and the Goth girl reeling.

Sam felt the air in her chest leave suddenly. For a few moments she tried to inhale futilely and began to panic. Just as darkness began to shroud her vision, she managed to draw a deep breath. The young girl's sight slowly cleared as she coughed a few times and tried sitting forward. It took her a moment to take stock of herself. Nothing appeared to be broken or damaged too badly. However, before she could take any solace in her discovery she noticed that the Fright Knight was standing directly in front of her.

"I shall enjoy watching you suffer as you are consumed by your worst fears." The medieval ghost slowly approached the young Goth as he drew his sword, the purple flames around his head intensifying with every step. The young girl couldn't bring herself to do anything. She wanted to scream, run, fight…anything, but her body wouldn't respond. As she watched the ghost raise its sword for the killing blow, the air in between the Goth and her attacker suddenly tore open. "What!?" was the only thing the evil knight could say before a sufficiently bedraggled, and livid looking Danny burst forth from the tear and tackled his foe to the ground. Without wasting any time the teenage ghost grabbed his enemy by both sides of his helmet.

"You have no idea what I've been through, scardy squire." Though Danny was still engaging in his usual witty banter there was none of the usual humor in his voice. "I'm going to WAIL ON YOU!" The heroes' eyes lit with a ferocious green glow as he inhaled deeply, and let loose a scream that utterly destroyed everything in its path. However the only thing in its path at the moment was the Fright Knight. For his part the medieval ghost began to writhe and contort in pain. If he screamed at all it was drown out by Danny's ghostly wail. As the heroes cry finally let up the Knight underneath him fell limp, completely unable to move.

Danny then stood on unsteady legs, as he looked around the battleground that had once been his cafeteria. As he turned around he saw Sam sitting completely still, Fear etched on her face. She had known that Danny was powerful…but that was ridiculous. He had appeared out of nowhere and completely destroyed the other ghost, and he had done it without mercy. She relaxed after he stared at her for a moment. The young teen had saved her from a nightmarish fate, so she guessed she could overlook the fact that he had used such methods. It looked, for a moment, like he was about to say something when a voice called out from the other side of the room.

"Yo, Phantom how did you do that?" it was Johnny. "I didn't know you could tear open portals, that's amazing." The biker ghost said incredulously. "I didn't think anyone could escape from that soul shredder." He then reached down and pulled his female companion up from the rubble. "Did you see that Kitty. It was amazing." Johnny said as he helped dust her off.

"No I didn't, Johnny, I was under a ton of rocks." Kitty said sardonically. "You owe us one Phantom." The female ghost said with slight annoyance as she helped Johnny pick up his motorcycle.

"Yeah…I guess I do." Danny said as he offered a hand to Sam. "Do you still have that thermos from the other day?" He said helping the young girl up. She was still a little in shock as she answered.

"Umm...yeah…it's in my locker." She said taking in the destruction. "I'll go get it." The young Goth headed listlessly in the direction of the hallway. She needed a moment to process everything that had happened.

"Alright, we'll come to collect our favor later alright." Johnny said as both he and kitty mounted his bike. "And I'll make sure to have something good for ya to do." The biker said as he started his ride and took off.

"See ya later, Danny." Kitty yelled down to the hero, who winced a little at the use of his name. That seemed like a bad idea in front of Sam.

"Yeah I'll see you guys later…AND THANKS" the ghostly hero yelled as they disappeared into the sky. He hadn't seen what it was they had done exactly but it seemed as though they had helped protect Sam.

That was the last thing the young Goth saw before she made her way into the hall and down to her locker. As she made her way back to the lunchroom she could hear someone approaching from behind. After the last few minutes she wasn't about to take any chances, so she whipped around as quickly as she could and uncapped the thermos. However the only thing behind her was Danny Fenton.

"Sam what were you thinking." He said rushing over to her. The young girl let out a sigh of relief, as she noticed that this version of Danny looked just as roughed up as his alter ego. "Don't you know you're supposed to run in the SAME direction as everyone else?" He said sounding out of breath. Sam just looked at him for a moment before turning and heading off into the lunchroom once more, Danny following close behind. "What are you doing?" The young boy said half heartedly, he still needed to put the Fright Knight into the thermos so he didn't try and stop her.

"I forgot something in the cafeteria" Sam said as she spotted the downed Knight and held the Fenton thermos in his direction; however she realized that she had no idea how to turn the contraption on. She shook it a few times to see what would happen. Before she had a chance to try staring down the business end of the device Danny wrapped a hand around hers and pointed the containment unit at its intended target.

"You just have to squeeze down on this part." The blue eyed teen said as he gently tightened his grip on her hand. A blue light shot out and began pulling their armored enemy inside the thermos, and Danny let his hand slip away from hers. From the moment his hand had touched hers she had been unable to move, and as she felt his grip loosen she felt a slight heat rise in her cheeks. She shook it off quickly and turned to face the young boy as she placed the cap firmly on the top of the metal device in her hands.

"DANNY?" the young Goth cried out when she noticed that her friend had collapsed unconscious in the middle of the rubble. As she knelt down to help him she could hear other people approaching.

"What happened to Danny?" it was his sister's voice, however that didn't really register with Sam. She was far more concerned with ascertaining Danny's condition. "Is he alright?" Jazz said worriedly, as she made her way over to the young Goth. when Sam looked back at Danny's sister she noted that a number of faculty members had followed the girl.

"Yeah…I think so." Sam said uncertainly. "I think he passed out when he saw the ghost…you know because he's terrified of them." The younger girl said trying to hint at Jazz to play along. Jazz looked a little relieved as she too knelt to observe her brothers condition.

"Are you sure he's alright….it looks like someone went medieval on him." Jazz said honestly, as Sam rolled her eyes.


	10. Round Peg, Square Hole

I don't own Danny Phantom.

Anomaly

Chapter 10

Sam sat quietly in the corner of the room. She couldn't help but feel that what had happened to Danny was her fault. If she hadn't been there, maybe things would have turned out differently. The young girl shifted uncomfortably as she took in the area around her. It was the first time she had ever been in Danny's room.

It was slightly more clean that she had imagined it would be, at least it was clean for a teenage boy. The walls were littered with posters of shuttles and stars. She had remembered, at some point he had said that one day he wanted to be an astronaut, though Sam thought that superhero fit him just fine.

After Jazz and the faculty had arrived, Danny's parents had been called to come pick him up. It seemed to everyone but Sam and Jazz, That Danny had passed out from both fear and exhaustion. When Jack and Maddie had arrived they had taken all three teenagers with them back to their house, since school had been canceled on account of ghosts it wasn't a problem for them to leave suddenly. Sam did have to call her parents to let them know where she would be though. As the young Goth was about to continue her spiral of self deprecation, Jazz entered the room.

"Alright that Fright Knight guy has been sent back to the Ghost Zone." The older girl said as she motioned to a small red button on the side of the container, The word purge was embossed upon it . Jazz then handed the now empty Fenton thermos to Sam. "Could you watch him for a little while longer, I need to go convince my parents that he isn't possessed or something." Jazz said as she turned to leave. However before she left the room completely she paused for a moment. "Thanks for watching out for Danny." She said giving the younger girl a strange smile, as she closed the door behind her.

As the door clicked shut Danny began to stir. Sam couldn't help the small smile that graced her lips as she watched him. He looked adorable as he tangled himself in his comforter. It made her wish she had a camera…leverage could be a powerful force. After a moment of mumbling and tossing some, Danny's eyes shot open.

"I'M NOT A GHOST!" he declared loudly as he sat forward. It seemed to take him a moment to figure out that he was in his room. As he looked around slowly he seemed to relax, until his eyes fell upon the girl sitting in the corner of the room on a small stool.

"SAM, what are you doing in here!?" Danny said pulling the covers over himself, though he was still fully clothed. When he noticed this fact he let the covers fall some… but not all the way.

"You passed out after helping me put the Fright Knight inside here." The Goth said holding up the Fenton thermos Jazz had given back to her. "Then your parents came to pick you up. I was worried so I came with them." She said explanatorily.

"Oh…Is he still in there." The young boy said pointing lightly at the containment device.

"No your sister emptied it, said she threw him back into the ghost zone." Sam said with little enthusiasm. "Never mind that though, how do you feel." The young girl said leaning closer to Danny. "You scared me half to death when you just passed out like that." She almost wished she could take that sentence back… since it caused Danny's eyes to go wide for a second.

"Yeah sorry about that, after I got out of the bathroom I couldn't find you with everyone else, so I ran around looking for you, Must have tired myself out more than I realized. After I did find you I noticed that the ghost you were trying to capture in the thermos was the Fright Knight…and I sort of fainted. You know…cuz I'm scared of ghosts." His excuse had sounded almost believable. However he had ruined it at the end.

"I actually went back to try and grab some of the ghost hunting things your parents gave me when I heard that Phantom guy fighting, I stepped in to try and warn him and ended up being dragged into the fight. That's when those other two ghosts showed up and saved me. After that Phantom showed back up and beat that Fright Knight guy and asked me to go get my thermos. "It struck her as awkward that both of them were lying to each other so naturally. She had to suppress the urge to blurt that she knew his secret; it wasn't a big urge so it wasn't hard to control, but It was still there.

"Well you're a lot braver than I am." He said sounding honest. "I'm just glad you're alright… That Fright Knight is one bad customer." Danny pulled the covers off of himself and moved to sit at the edge of the bed facing Sam. "You should just run next time, it's safer that way." He said softly. The young girl knew he meant well but it sounded somewhat sexist to her.

"I'll have you know I can take care of myself." Sam said twirling the thermos on one finger, before catching it in her hand. Danny sighed as he stood up slowly.

"Fair enough…By the way…how long was I out I have to pee like a race horse." He said as he did a little dance. The young girl let out a laugh as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Four or five hours, I sort of lost count though. After we got here and your parents put you in bed , then your dad started to talk nonstop about ghosts…so it could have been longer." Sam said as her eyes took on a listless quality. "A lot longer…I swear your dad could talk a ghost to death." The young girl shook her head lightly.

"Well...in any case I have to go…I'll be right back." Danny said as he did a little dance out through the door. This caused Sam to giggle slightly, which then caused her to blanch at the fact that she had giggled. It wasn't like her to do something so girly…she scoffed, or laughed outright. Giggling however was not something she would admit to.

She shifted uncomfortably as silence settled in his room. It was somewhat strange to be in Danny's room without him being there. Without anything around to distract her, Sam's mind started to wander again. It was mostly to the fact that she may have been responsible for Danny's current condition. She stood up slowly and began to pace in a small line in front of her seat. Maybe she should never have stayed in the lunchroom the day that Ember had appeared. Then she wouldn't have been around to cause so much trouble. Sure Danny was fine now… but what about next time. The young girl felt conflicted, on one hand she wanted to help him if he needed it, but on the other she might end up getting him hurt. Before her thoughts could spiral completely out of control Danny's computer sprang to life.

Somewhat startled, Sam jumped away from the computer. After realizing that there was something blinking on the screen the young girl stepped forward for a closer look. There was a small window open directly in the center of the display. It said "Foley Net: Line 1" with a small box underneath that read "Accept?" This must have been the network that Tucker had set up for The PDA that Danny held, though it looks like the calls could be picked up on his computer as well.

As Sam waited for Danny to come back and answer the call the window changed slightly. It now read "Foley Net: Line 1: In use." The box underneath had also changed to read "Join?" The young girl wondered for a moment how it was possible for it to have been answered, until she remembered Danny had placed the PDA In his pocket right before the lunchroom fiasco. As she leaned closer to the screen she absently wondered what happened to Danny's clothes and other possessions when he changed between his forms.

Sam watched the screen intently trying to decide if she should pry or not. It was kind of hard not to wonder, since he had so many well kept secrets. Her body however seemed to act before her mind had come to a decision, as she moved the cursor on the screen and clicked the "Join" Button.

"…an't believe you got hit with the Soul Shredder." Tuckers voice sprang forth from the speakers of Danny's computer. "What was it like…I remember being on a deserted island with no technology…or meat." The young boys voice sounded somewhat disturbed. Sam however had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"I wish it had been that pleasant. My parents had caught me…and my mom was trying to dissect me." Danny said, his voice filled with terror. "I'm not sure what happened after that…its sort of blurry. But then I somehow managed to tear my way out of there." The blue eyed teen said sounding very relived.

"Like Wulf?" Tucker's question made almost no sense to Sam. She figured he must be referring to some ghost they knew. "Cuz that would be awesome man!!" The Techno geek sounded ecstatic. "What are you going to call that power." Before Tucker let Danny answer he started giving it names of his own. "The Ghostly Rift, or the Spirit Splitter, how about the Phantom …."

"Tuck...not now. My head is still pounding from using that. It took all my energy… well almost all." Danny said trying to get Tucker to settle down. "After that I used a Ghostly Wail to finish off the Fright Knight." He said it as though it was some kind of miracle that he had done so. "It looked like he was about to turn Sam into mince meat…and you know how she feels about meat." The young boy said making a small joke.

"Dude, why don't you just tell her and get it over with, it would make your life easier." This surprised Sam, It seemed as though Tucker thought she could handle Danny's secret. "I mean it's only a matter of time until she figures it out on her own." The Goth leaned in closer to the screen, awaiting Danny's response.

"I don't know Tuck…what if she avoids me or something…I don't want to ruin our friendship." He said sounding somewhat depressed. The young girl was surprised, to think Danny thought she would abandon him just because he happened to be different. However He wasn't done speaking. "Besides what would I say "Hey Sam I just thought you should know that ever since I saw you at that dance last year, I've had a huuuge crush on you…oh yeah I'm also Danny Phantom."" He had said it all as a mock version of himself.

Whatever was said next Sam couldn't process it. Her mind shut down completely. It was as if it had overheated, and she could feel it in her face. Danny had a crush on her……WHAT? It made no sense to the young girl. Sure he had stuttered a lot when they had first met, but everyone said that's just how he acted around girls. Then again…Tucker was always making cracks about the two of them going out. Danny also seemed to go red at the face more often than he should have. Her mind perceived the whole dilemma as a round peg trying to fit inside a square hole.

As the different departments of her mind raced to find a solution that would allow the peg into the hole, one section of her mind spoke up. It was reminding her of the strange unidentifiable feeling she had been experiencing for the last couple of weeks, the one that most often surfaced when Danny would put on that goofy looking smile of his. As she began to explore what that section of her mind was talking about, another division of her brain tried to intervene. It was the Goth in her…however at the moment she wasn't having any of its shenanigans.

She let the feeling wash over her slowly…it wasn't altogether unpleasant. Sam was slightly unnerved that it seemed to make her heart beat faster. She shifted uncomfortably as the unknown emotion continued to take hold. The young girl was about to try and shake it off when she heard Danny speak once more.

"In any case, I think telling Sam either of my secrets is a bad idea." As his voice came out of the speaker Sam was able to… if not identify… ascertain what the feeling was telling her. That there was a remote ,miniscule, microscopic chance…that maybe…just maybe… she sort…kinda…liked Danny, just a little. As soon as the thought entered her mind she tried to dismiss it, since it made her slightly uncomfortable. That and she was still having a hard time believing that he liked her…one of the most avoided people at Casper High.

Deciding that she had heard enough she went to close the program. However, as she reached out to grab the mouse she knocked over a small cup full of pencils at the edge of Danny's desk. Sam reached out as fast as lightning to stop them from making noise. She was too late however; as she returned the pencils to the cup and stood it upright she could hear tucker saying something.

"Danny….Where did you leave Sam?" the Techno geek asked quickly.

"In my room." Danny said, his voice filled with dread.

"Did you leave your computer on… cuz if you did… she could use it to listen in on this call." Tucker said sounding half amused half worried.

"I don't know…I'll be right back Tuck." Danny said. Sam assumed he was about to race to check on her, so in the few seconds allowed to her she quickly dove under his desk unplugged then reconnected the power chord. Without wasting a millisecond she plunked herself down on the stool she had been sitting in when Danny had left. She shook herself once to regain her composure as the door to his room opened. The blue eyed teen poked his head in before allowing the rest of his body to follow.

"Alright… I'll see you later Tuck." He said into his PDA, as he sat down on the end of his bed.

"Talk to ya later."Was the last thing Sam heard from tucker as the line went dead. Danny then stuck the gizmo in his pocket as he eyed his computer askance. The young girl found it hard to keep her face straight in front of him. Not only was she trying to avoid suspicion from moments ago but she was also trying not to remember what she had overheard while eavesdropping. They both sat in silence for a few moments, however before the silence could drag on for two long Sam spoke up.

"Well…I should be going…." She said, trying to avoid looking directly at him. "My parents are probably still a little worried after what happened today at school." The young girl stood and began heading for the door. Before she could make it halfway there Danny was up and following her.

"Let me walk you home, I could use the fresh air." The young hero said truthfully. "Let me just go tell my parents I'm ok." He then dashed out of his room and down the stairs to the first floor. Sam winced inwardly; she had been hoping to get away for the moment…with what she had just learned she needed time to figure some things out. One thing was for certain though…Danny wasn't going anywhere near her house. The day was already bad enough without him finding out her secret.

"Are you coming Sam!!" Danny Called from the bottom of the stairs. The young girl took a deep calming breath before she answered.

"Yeah, I'll be right down!"


	11. Quick Draw

I don't own Danny Phantom. Alright, I know how I want this to be near the end but from this point to there I have almost no idea what I want to happen so it might take a while. Sorry in andvace. I do hope to have somthing at some point though.

Anomaly

Chapter 11

"So where do you live anyway." Danny said as he walked slowly in front of Sam. The streetlights began to flicker on as dusk settled in around them. "Actually…I don't think you've ever mentioned anything about your house or your parents…other than that they want you to be more lady like, and wear pink dresses…" The young boy shivered slightly as he pictured Sam in anything but black and purple.

"It's Just on the other side of town…" The young Goth said trying to keep the apprehension out of her voice, as she shifted her backpack from one shoulder to the other. Somehow, before they made it near her house she was going to have to lose him. Or at least get him to go home. "And trust me you don't want to meet my parents. I think my mom might corner you, and put you through her special interrogation." Sam said this as menacingly as possible hoping he would take the hint.

"They can't be all that terrible." Danny said scratching the back of his head. "I mean, you're not that bad." He said as he turned to give her a goofy grin. Sam had to look away from him; it was hard to focus now that she understood how he felt. The young girl noticed a slight warmth rise in her cheeks. Was this how he felt the whole time he was around her. If it was, he had an iron will. She had just let her stony composure crack for a few moments earlier, and now she found it almost impossible to look directly at him. It also made her feel somewhat sick to her stomach, to know that he was having this effect on her.

Sam had a crush once…when she was 8. The boy had seemed disinterested at first. Then she had introduced herself, and he had promptly pushed her into the dirt. That had been the last time she had felt anything remotely like what she was feeling now. Since then the young Goth had kept most of her feelings bottled inside.

"Ha…you only say that because you've never met them." Sam said, pooling her willpower. "Trust me, were nothing alike." She said looking directly at him. It had made her heart beat a little faster but she had managed to gain some semblance of control over her emotions. Now all she had to do was get him to leave. However she was saved the trouble when Danny's PDA suddenly started playing a little ditty. He pulled it from his pocket and turned slightly away from her as he scanned the screen. The young boy then suddenly turned around and shoved the PDA at the girl standing next to him.

"Could you get that for me." Danny said as he took off in the direction of his house. "There's something I have to do real quick" He yelled as he turned the corner. Sam almost breathed a sigh of relief, but something seemed off. She looked down at the personal assistant in her hand. It still flashed, saying that tucker was calling. She thought about answering but decided she had heard enough from the bespectacled boy today, so she shoved the device unceremoniously into her backpack. The girl then turned to head toward her house.

She was about three blocks away from her house, when the feeling that something was off started to nag at her more strongly. Sam liked to think that her instincts were usually spot on when it came to trouble. The young girl stopped and pulled the Specter Deflector from her fluffy spider shaped backpack, and slipped it around her waist. As she got underway once more, Sam felt a chill down her spine.

The streetlights nearby began to flicker on and off rhythmically, with her every footfall. The young girl began to pick up her pace as the lights began to sputter more violently. Sam suddenly belived that worrying about how Danny felt was the least of her worries.

The Goth slowed down as she approached the next crosswalk in her path, its indicator telling her to stop. As she waited for the light to change she began to fidget nervously. Finally she was informed that she could proceed as the light changed to the little walking man, however she never had so much as a chance to step out into the street.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH" Something…rather someone landed in the middle of the street with enough force to crack the pavement. Sam shrieked and jumped about a foot in the air. As the dust from the impact settled she could see Danny Phantom trying to crawl his way out of the small crater. He looked, almost none the worse for wear. "Ouch." He said dryly as he made his way unsteadily to his feet he took stock of his surroundings. Sam was about to call out to him when something appeared on the street in front of the young boy. It was a ten foot tall…robot, with Dracula inside. The young girl would have laughed if it hadn't looked so menacing.

"So Daniel, how do you like the new and improved Ecto-skeleton, hmm? It took me nearly a year to reassemble it after you and your sister destroyed the original." The vampiric looking ghost said from inside the metal construct. "Now, however I have the upper hand." He said as he brought the robots hand up to point at the boy. A Beam larger than any Sam had ever seen shot from the machines palm and hammered into Danny, consuming his entire body in light. As the young girl beheld the scene she suddenly remembered that Danny had used all his energy earlier that day. This wasn't going to end well.

The stream of light began to fade and Sam tried to locate her friend amongst the destruction it had wrought. Where the young boy had once stood there was scar in the pavement about five feet wide which ran the entire length of the street. The young hero was nowhere to be seen. The decidedly evil ghost inside the robot began to toggle the controls of his ride, as he scanned his surroundings. His eyes fell briefly on Sam; however he didn't seem interested in her in the least. The giant machine slowly began to move down the street as its sensors blinked.

"Now, now my boy, hiding will do you no good. This Ecto-skeleton has the most advanced ghost sensing equipment in the world. There's no way you can escape me." The villainous ghost said it in an almost playful manner.

"SENSE THIS!!" Sam let out a cheer as Danny burst forth from the ground directly underneath the hulking piece of machinery. He shot two blinding rays of energy from his palms directly into the robots undercarriage. However instead of the satisfying sight of the menacing ghost being sent flying away, it just stood and took the blast head on. The young girl winced a little, as she saw the machine grab the young boy in one hand, like a child holding a doll. Sam began to rummage through her backpack, maybe she could help…even if it was only a little.

As she tried to pull the ghost hunting equipment from within her pack something behind her made a noise. She grasped the first thing her hand touched and brandished it at whatever was behind her. When she opened her eyes she was completely surprised to see Danny floating in front of her. Sam's head quickly turned from the battle taking place down the street to the person…ghost…in front of her. Now completely dumbfounded she looked at what she had grabbed out of her backpack, it was a ruler.

"You need to get out of here now!" The other Danny said, as he approached her. The young girl placed the ruler back as she studied the…doppelganger of her friend. He looked horrible, at least twice as bad as the hero fighting the infernal machine. "Come with me!" he said grabbing her wrist. Sam tried to pull away, but it was too late. Not seconds after his hand clamped down an intense electrical shock surged through the ghostly hero. He let out a pained scream as he suddenly ceased to exist. Sam blinked at the space in front of her….she had killed the dopple-Danny. Before she had a chance to feel bad there was another scream from down the street. Sam whipped around to see the original Danny contorting in the air, as a giant metal fist closed around his head. The young Goth cringed as he was flung through a nearby building.

"Give it up Daniel, after your fight with the Fright Night, which I went to great lengths to arrange, you're no match for me. Just come quietly and you won't have to suffer." The Ghost said it as though he was trying to do Danny a favor. As the construct made its way into the hole it had created using the Ghostly hero, Sam dumped the contents of her backpack onto the sidewalk. She then knelt down and began sifting through its contents. As she rummaged around she heard the robot emerge from the building once more. It was holding Danny by one of his legs, the young boy hung limply in its grasp. Without losing a beat Sam dove back into her work. It took only seconds to find her thermos, and the Mini-Fenton portable portal.

She stood up and shoved the pistol shaped device into waistband of her skirt. She looked back to see the ghost in the Ecto-Skeleton smashing Danny into nearby buildings, light posts, and cars. It was horrific; Sam was transfixed as she made her way closer to the battle ground. With one last earth shattering blow the young boy was deposited firmly into the cement sidewalk. The young girl's eyes widened with terror as she beheld her friend. His arms looked broken, as did the leg the machine had been holding. His black jumpsuit was littered with tears and something green, which looked strangely like blood. The thing that made her own blood curdle was his neck, it was…twisted around.

"What's the matter…no insults, no witty banter, nothing funny to say." The infernal machine towered over his broken form. It was about to reach down and pick him up once more when Danny's head slowly spun around with a sickening crack; he coughed lightly as he let out a small chuckle.

"That suit…makes you…look fat." Danny said, refusing to let the other ghost have any satisfaction. The vampiric features of the evil spirit contorted in rage, as the robots fist descended upon the broken hero. However the hand stopped inches away from Danny's head as a brilliant blue light encompassed the ecto-skeleton. Sam gulped audibly as the ghost inside turned its attention to her. The young girl kept the thermos trained on him, though it didn't seem to be having the effect she desired.

"And who might you be my dear." The evil ghost said inquisitively, as Danny tried futilely to draw his attention once more. The blue torrent of light continued to try and pull both robot and driver inside futilely. "I assume your acquaintances with the Fenton's. Well you're out of luck with this suit I am incapable of being captured in your ridiculous thermos." The ghost said both with scorn and confidence. "So why don't you run along and I'll forget about your little transgression." The malevolent spirit then turned his attention to Danny once more. It was then that an idea suddenly struck the young girl. She quickly aimed the Blinding light of the thermos from one target to another, as Danny was suddenly and violently pulled inside. The ghost in the machine roared in anger as he once more focused his attention on the young Goth. He was glaring…something far worse than daggers at her. "GIVE ME THAT." He yelled as he started making his way over to her.

Sam stood her ground despite an overwhelming need to faint. The hulking mechanical device came to a stop about a meter away from the comparatively small young girl. It took every last ounce of her willpower not to waiver, as fear gripped her heart. The driver of the machine looked down at her with distain.

"Hand that over…and I promise not to destroy you." He said sounded less than persuasive. Sam held onto the thermos as though her life depended on it. There was no way she would ever let this…thing have Danny.

"And if I don't…" the young girl asked barely above a whisper.

"Then I won't be responsible for my actions." He said, as he reached out one of the metal hands under his control and grasped her surprisingly gently. "Now I…GYYAAAAAAA" the charge that was emitted from the girl seemed to be amplified by the strange Ecto-skeleton that the ghost was piloting. The hand holding her let go instantly but the ghost inside continued to scream. Sam hadn't expected the Specter deflector to work on the ghost through his protective suit. The young girl was about to try running when the Vampiric specter left his protective casing, which apparently alleviated his discomfort. His eyes spat murder at the girl in front of him. "GIVE ME THAT NOW!!!" He shrieked in pain and rage, as he dove at her.

In the split second that it took him to cross the distance to her, she threw the thermos in the air and whispered a small apology to its occupant. The ghost's eyes went wide as it tried to position itself to catch the container. As it backed away moving slightly from side to side, Sam produced the last of her Ghost hunting paraphernalia. Before the containment device reached the top of its arc she quickly took aim and fired.

The tiny green projectile emitted by the equally small pistol shaped object struck its target directly in the chest. He barely had time to react as a small rift formed where it made contact, and the ghost was pulled inside. The sight was slightly disturbing, as the hole was so small and its victim so large. As the last of the malevolent spirit and the small portal disappeared from sight, Sam fell to her knees breathing heavily. She had never been so scared in her life… if it weren't for the fact that….DANNY!!

She looked up to see the thermos land with a clank. Her heart stopped for a moment. Sam wasn't sure if he could feel anything...and she hoped he couldn't. He had looked completely broken. A new form of fear took hold of her, as she scrambled across the shattered pavement to where the container came to rest disregarding the scrapes her legs were receiving. She fumbled slightly with the thermos as she tried to take its lid off. Tears began to form in her eyes as she clawed at the lid in a panic. Her face brightened somewhat when the cap popped off and fell to the ground. However it darkened once again when nothing happened. She hated the feeling of helplessness that began to envelop her. She held the device upside down and began to shake it, as the tears that had been forming finally began to run down her face.

She pressed the small red button jazz had motioned to when she had told Sam that the Fright Knight had been sent back into the ghost zone. As her finger held the button down as hard as it possibly could, some red letters appeared upon the side of the thermos, along with a small electronic klaxon. Sam wanted to hurl the container across the street as she beheld the words that were displayed. However instead of doing so she clutched the Thermos to her chest as she tried to stand. The young girl blearily tried to find the direction she was looking for through her tears. When she saw the street signs she was looking for she began to stumble in the direction of the Fenton's house, holding the container as tightly as she could.

The small red letters continued to mock her: GENETIC LOCK ENABLED.


End file.
